JAQUELINE PASCAL; 



% <$\mku of (ionimtt f\k at fori $og;il. 

FROM TIIE FRENCH OF 

m. victim, COUSIN, Iff. PROSPEB i'.\n;i:i;i;. ft yixlt, 

AND OTHER SOURCES. 

TRANSLATED BY EL N. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY W. II. WILLIAMS, D.D. 



NEW YORK: 
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 

No. 2 85 BROADWAY. 



1854. s> ^ -7 










The Library 

' Cong 




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 

ROBERT CARTER &. BROTHERS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of 

New York. 



STEREOTYPED BY 

THOMAS B. SMITH, 
216 William St., N. Y. 



FEINTED BY 

JOHN A. GRAY, 
97 Cliff Street. 



Cnntnit 



r, 



Introduction, by Rev. W. R. Williams, 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 

Gilberte, Madame Perier. — The "Writings of the Women of Port 
Royal. — Jnqueline Pascal. — Birth and Edueali'>n of Jaqoeline 
Pascal. — Her Love of Poetry. — Her Presentation at Court. — 
The Small-pox, and her Verses on it. — Cardinal Richelieu, and 
his Reception of Jaqueliue and her Father, . . .23 

THE YOUNG POETESS AT ROUEN. 

Removal to Rouen. — Jaqueline's Reception there. — Her Sister's 
Marriage. — Her Poems. — Offers of Marriage. — Consolation fat 
the Death of a Huguenot Lady. — Accident to her Father. — Its 
Consequences. — Conversion of Blaise Pascal and Jaqueline, . 43 

PORT ROYAL. 

Illness of Blaise Pascal. — His Residence with Jaqueline at Paris. 
— The Interview with Descartes. — Singlin's Preaching. — Intro- 
duction to Port Royal. — Sketch of its History and Constitu- 
tions. — Joint Letter of Pascal and Jaqueline to Madame Perier, 58 

PARENTAL OPPOSITION. 

Recall of Etienne Pascal to Paris. — His Opposition to Jaqueline's 
Plans. — Correspondences with Mere Agnes. — Her Mode of Liv- 
ing. — Journey to Auvergne. — Paraphrase of a Latin Hymn. — 
Port Royal, and Female Genius. — Return to Paris, . . . 104 



VI CONTENTS. 



THE NOVICE. 



Death of Etienne Pascal. — Feelings of Blaise. — His Opposition to 
Jaqueline's Plans. — Her Removal to Port Royal. — Letters to 
him and to Madame Perier. — Pecuniary Trials. — Jaqueline's 
Narrative. — Her Profession as a Novice, 123 



PASCAL'S CONVERSION. 

Illness of Madame Perier. — Jaqueline's Letters. — Pascal's worldly 
habits. — His final Conversion through his Sister's Instrumen- 
tality. — Jaqueline's Account of her Occupation at Port Royal. — 
Her Letters on Education. — Her Regulations for Children, . 148 

JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 

Account of the Founders of Jansenism, and the Recluses of La 
Grange. — Margaret Perier and the Miracle of the Holy Thorn, 
as related in the Letters of her Aunt. — Poem of the Latter. — 
The Provincial Letters. — Letters. — To her Nieces. — To the 
Mere Angelique de St. Jean, on the Death of a Sister, . . 172 

PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 

Jaqueline's last Letters to her Kindred. — The Persecution re-com- 
mences. — The Formulary. — Departure of the Abbess Angelique 
from Port Royal des Champs. — The Dispersion of the Novices. 
— Letter to Jaqueline and Margaret Perier. — Examination of 
Jaqueline Pascal. — Blaise Pascal forced into Opposition to the 
Pope. — Jaqueline's Letter on the Formulary, enclosed in one 
to Arnauld. — The Death of Angelique. — Signature of the For- 
mulary. — Jaqueline's Death, 201 

THE SURVIVORS. 

Pascal's Feelings on the Death of Jaqueline. — Letters of Condo- 
lence addressed to him and to Madame Perier. Death of Pas- 
cal. — After-history of Madame Perier and her Daughters. — M. 
Cousin's Concluding Reflections, 227 



CONTENTS. yu 



.1AQUELINE PASCAL. 
An Essay, by M. Vinet, of Lausanne, . 

A F P E N D I X. 

Regulation for Children, by JaqtH -Hih- FtM* • 

Recollections of the Merc Angelique, . 



866 

315 



INTRODUCTION. 



Pascal deserves to rank among the foremost Dames of the 
race. In that age of French literature which was emblazoned 

with the most profuse and gorgeous array of talent, none of 
his contemporaries surpassed, it' any equalled him in reach 
and depth of thought, clearness and force of expression, and an 

eloquence graceful, winning, witty, Bublime, or overwhelming, 

as the theme and the occasion might demand. In Science he 
enrolled himself amongst those of most inventive and pro- 
found genius. To Religion and its defence, ho brought the 
homage and consecration of powers, which skeptics like Con- 
dorcet and Voltaire could not venture to scorn, nor aspire even 
to rival. And he was not a thinker, dwelling apart from the 
great controversies, and the critical, practical issues of his 
time. He was a power in his age. Upon the history of his 
Church, he graved indelibly his mark in the Provincial Let- 
ters, working thereby an immediate and withal an enduring 
influence which has no counterpart in literary history. Jesuit- 
ism received from those Letters a wound from which it never 
recovered, and which aided many years after to bring about 
its abolition. Ever since its restoration, the Jesuit Order bears 
yet about it, amid its resuscitation, the scar not only, but the 

ulcer, the chronic and incurable infirmity which it contracted 
1* 



X INTRODUCTION. 

in the collision of its adroit and unscrupulous casuists with the 
terrible and invincible Louis de Montalte, the name that Pas- 
cal chose to wear on his vizor and shield, as he rode into the 
lists to cope, single-handed, with the most potent and crafty, 
the most widely-spread and closely united of the great relig- 
ious orders of the time. And all this was accomplished 
amid broken health, and ere an early death had taken him 
away from other and unfinished tasks of yet larger compass 
and higher aims. 

But to the Christian, the crowning grace of Pascal's char- 
acter is the high, earnest and absorbing zeal for God and His 
truth that possessed and consecrated all his faculties and at- 
tainments, and gave the law to their action and influence. He 
labored not for fame or power, but for Truth and its defenders. 
In that body of mighty and devout men, the Jansenists of 
France, were others not unworthy to share by their force of 
intellect and power as writers, in Pascal's sympathies and his 
tasks, whilst to some of them, for their simple, earnest and 
consuming piety, even he looked up with reverence and do- 
cility. 

The history of the Jansenists forms one of the most interest- 
ing and remarkable episodes in the annals of the Christian 
Church. Although Port Royal, their great foundation, after 
a fierce and prolonged struggle, sank under the combined 
force of regal and sacerdotal enmity, Jesuitism could not at 
the same time extirpate the doctrines and system of Jansen- 
ism. These yet survived and wrought widely and vividly. 
Their influence either within or without the bounds of the 
Romish Church is not yet spent ; and of their relations to the 
cause of Christian morals and evangelical doctrine, of sound 



INTRODUCTION. xi 

learning and national freedom, and individual worth, the 
Protestant no less than the Romanist may well be the patient 
and delighted student 
Whilst the Btruggle was yet going on between a dominant 

Jesuitism, and the spiritual and more scriptural Jansenism 
that it hated and proscribed, a contemporary English scholar, 
Th. Mphilus Gale, one of the most learned of all the Noncon- 
formists, and the author of the erudite "Courl of the Gen- 
tiles," published for British Christians a brief history of Jan- 
senism. Owen's works Bhow his interesl in and acquaintance 
■with the same controversy. Thedevoul Archbishop Leighton, 
whose seraphic piety so delighted Doddridge, and in our own 
times so enchanted Coleridge, is thought to have derived some 
of his religious traits from his acquaintance whilst in France, 
during his earlier years, with some of the excellent Jansenists 
of that country. In a later day, Count Zinzendorff, i! 
viver of Moravianism, and who gave to "the United Breth- 
ren" of Germany their present polity, was in like manner 
benefited and kindled by intimacy during a visit in youth to 
France, with devout adherents of the same system. One of 
the essays of the eYninent Jansenist moralist Nicole, upon 
which Voltaire has bestowed the warmest eulogi 
have equally won the admiration of the English philosopher 
Locke, who translated it into his own tongue, — it is said, for 
the especial benefit of his patron and friend, the versatile, 
restless and unscrupulous Earl of Shaftesbury. Left in man- 
uscript long after Locke's death, it was a few years since for 
the first time published. More recently Hannah More was an 
admirer and student of Nicole, and incurred therefor the 
sportive reproof of Dr. Johnson. Alexander Knox and his 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

friend Bishop Jebb seem to have been conversant with the 
same treasures of Jansenist piety. An English Protestant, 
Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, was the. compiler of a work entitled 
"Memoirs of Port Royal," that, having undergone several 
editions in her native country, has but this year appeared in 
our own. Still more recently than Mrs. Schimmelpenninck, 
a German Protestant, Reuchlin, has gathered from a wide 
study of the literature of Jansenism, and after personal research 
amid the manuscript collections of France, the materials for a 
History of Port Royal which has appeared in his own tongue. 
St. Beuve, one of the most distinguished of the living critics 
of France, has for years been occupied in a similar task. His 
History of Port Royal, the volumes of which have been issued 
at intervals, remains as yet incomplete. 

To his labors, his personal friend, the late lamented Vinet, 
more than once alludes, in the frequent references which that 
profound thinker and most accomplished writer has made to 
the history and character of Jansenism. Vinet, it need not be 
said, was a staunch and uncompromising Protestant. He was 
more : — a most able and undaunted champion for evangelical 
doctrine and spiritual religion, to whom his sceptical and Rom- 
ish contemporaries were compelled to do honor for his attain- 
ments and taste, and the rare graces of his style, as well as for 
the power and reach of his intellect.* 

* The Count de Montalembert, in the pamphlet issued by him but 
the last year (1852), and entitled "Des Intcrets Catholiques au XIX C 
Siecle" (The Interests of Catholicism in the 19lh century), -which 
recounts with such glowiDg eloquence the recruited glories, real or im- 
aginary, of Romanism in the last half century, says that Protestantism, 
■with its thousand sects, " has not produced a theologian or a preacher 
since the death of Vinet and the conversion of Newman." P. 59. 



INTRODUCTION. xiii 

With such precedents, numerous and honored, it will not, 

we must hope, 1"' considered as i ipromising the Protestant 

character of the accomplished tr ansla tor and co mpile r of the 
following volume, that she has prepared for the press this 
sketch of the Life, Character and Writings of the younger 
Bister of Pascal, illustrating as it does incidentally the princi- 
ples and struggles of Port Royal and the JansenistB. 

Kindred in genius, as she was most closely united by affec- 
tion, to her distinguished brotluer, Jaqueline P 
faithful witness, and in the mental sufferings which battened 
her end, a meek victim for the truth as she regarded it. 
And, like her illustrious kinsman, sin- protested, though 
vainly, yet to the last, against some of those accommodations, 
extorted, as they supposed, by the necessities of the time, 
which some of the other great leaders of Jansenism, the firm 
and dauntless Anthony Arnauld amongst them, advised and 
urged. These advances for the sake of peace were unavailing 
endeavors, that, as Pascal had forewarned the counsellors of 
them, failed to save the Institution, but sacrificed the truth. 

It seemed due to the integrity of history to preserve the 
allusions which in Jaqueline's letters, and other writings, recur 
not unfrequently to the usages and opinions of the Romish 
Church. It was a just complaint with respect to one of the 
English histories of Jansenism, to which we have referred, 
and was made by tho London Christian Observer, at the time 
when the history appeared, that by assiduous and systematic 
suppression, from the narratives and conversations which it 
recorded, of all the Catholic peculiarities which in the original 
French authorities they presented, the book taught a Protest- 
ant reader to suppose the Jansenists more free from grave 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

errors, and more assimilated to Protestantism than in truth 
they were. 

For the authority of Scripture, the need of personal con- 
version, and the great doctrines of grace, as they were stated 
by Augustine, this body in the Catholic Church contended 
most strenuously and irrefragably. That the first impulse to 
their studies in this direction might have been supplied to 
Jansenius and his friend St. Cyran, by the synod of Dort, 
and the controversies which it awakened throughout Protest- 
ant Europe, living as Jansenius did in Flanders, a territory 
contiguous to the scene of that memorable Synod, — is not 
improbable. That the Huguenot creed of some of the ances- 
tors of the Arnaulds may have contributed to render other 
and Catholic members of the family favorable to views of 
doctrine so nearly resembling Calvinism, was a favorite im- 
putation of their Jesuit antagonists : — but seems much less 
tenable. The great leaders of the Jansenist body sought most 
strenuously to purge themselves from any appearance of 
identity or sympathy with the Protestants of France and 
Holland, by works of controversy directed against eminent 
Huguenot writers, or written in defence of leading Catholic 
tenets. Upon transubstantiation, for instance, the work con- 
jointly issued by Arnauld and Nicole, entitled " The Perpetuity 
of the Faith," remains yet the most admired bulwark of this 
doctrine in the Catholic schools, who retain and extol this 
treatise of Jansenist scholarship, though Jansenism itself as 
a system, and other writings of these very authors, have in- 
curred the ban of the Vatican. 

In the case of a thoughtful and dispassionate Protestant, 
the study of the lives and writings of the devout Jansenists 



[NTRODTJOTION. xv 

must, it would seem to us, serve to deter and alienate from 
Rome, rather than to win to its communion. The Bystem 
was an endeavor to grafl the doctrines of grace as Augustine 
had so mightily and effectively presented them in their sym- 
metry and fulness, upon all the medieval usages and abuses — 
the accumulated traditions and inventions of successivi 
turiee in the Romish Church. Ead Borne accepted these 
truths, and yielded gracefully to the engraftment, it would 
have " healed her wound" — the eating, and widening cancer 
of error within her system — so far at least, as to have made 
her teachings and her confessors far more Bpecious and at- 
tractive in the sight of one who, studying the epistles <>t' Paul, 
had there found a greater than Augustine, in the nam.' and 
right of a wiser and greater than either Augustine or Paul, 
setting forth the same glorious Bystem as t'> the way of sal- 
vation by grace. Had Kome .lanscni/.ed, men loving the 
theology of Paul and Paul's Master might have begun to hope 
that such truths, indulged and honored within the bounds of 
the Papal communion, must soon expel her remaining errors. 
But when the Infallible Church cast them out, and condemned 
their defenders, whilst meaning but to disown St. Cyran or 
Quesnel, she forgat that she was condemning Augustine, the 
greatest of the old Fathers. God allowed her thus to put a 
fresh contradiction amongst her own doctors, and a new and 
deliberate impeachment of His own Apostles and apostolic 
verities upon her own records. And the more able, the more 
excellent, and the more devoted the men and women adhering 
to Jansenism, thus disavowed and extruded, the more em- 
phatically did Rome put herself in the wrong ; and her Pro- 
testant accusers were established, all the more assuredly, as 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

being in the right, when they proclaimed the Communion 
that persecuted such confessors, and branded such a confess- 
ion, as a Communion hopelessly blinded and irremediably 
corrupted— whose delusion was judicial and final, and for 
whose maladies there remained neither remedy nor hope. 

It was, again, a justification from a new and opposite quar- 
ter, of the ground taken in the Protestant Reformation. 
Salvation by grace, the same great elementary truth that was 
the core and pith of Jansenism, had in the hands of Luther 
and Zwingle, of Calvin, Knox, and Cranmer, revolutionized 
the Churches now known as the Reformed, and sent a new 
life into the governments, homes, workshops, and sanctuaries 
of their nations. But it had been the suspicion of some Pro- 
testants, more conservative than comprehensive in their views, 
that these truths might have been sustained, and yet the great 
mass of Romish rites have been retained, and Christendom kept 
up unbroken the bond of a common ecclesiastical fellowship. 
The suspicion was based on forgetfulness of the fact that Rome 
had herself banished the Reformers, and that the rent was 
torn by her own proud hands, quite as much as by the divi- 
sive energy of the truth itself. But now, as if to put the 
truth of this conjecture as to precipitancy in the Reformers to 
a decisive test, rose tip in Catholic France, a body of learned, 
able, devout men, who resisted and denounced Protestantism, 
but asked to cherish, as Augustine had before them cherished, 
and as St. Paul in Scripture taught them, the great fact of 
the faith, that man's salvation is merely and purely of God's 
free grace. They gave every evidence of sincerity, even to 
obstinacy, in their attachment to Romish usages, the Papal 
Communion, and Peter's Chair. They honored relics, and 



INTRODUCTION. XYli 

kepi saints'' days, and used pictures, and adored the sacra- 
ment, and wore punctual in confession. En these and the like 
things, they yearned to be Pharisees of the Pharisees, the 
most Romanizing of Romanists. But they would, with 
tli«' •, hold the old and great principles as to the mode of 

man's salvation, that tie- best men of the Churoh, in i 

ages, had enounced and defended. In refusing such a desire, 

offered by such men, Rome silenced tho Protestant cavillers 
at tho old Reformers. Knox had been charged with barbar- 
ism, and truly or untruly been represented as savin-- that the 
rookeries of cathedrals must fall, or the rooks of the 
would return. The Papacy now virtually uttered a cruder 
and fiercer edict. It swept out doves and hewed doM a 
cotes, that the owl might sleep in peace, nor the raven bo 
shamed by comparison witli the birds of a softer cry and a 
brighter wing. 

As to the miracles claimed to have been wrought in de- 
fence of Jansenist innocence and sanctity, whether in the ear- 
lier times of the body, while Pascal yet lived, or in the much 
later age of the Convulsionnaires, as one portion of tin 
Jansenists were called, the subject would require a volume, if 
its discussion were to be commenced at all. No one who 
knows the character, either of Pascal or of his sister, can be 
persuaded, that for any earthly consideration, they would have 
lent themselves to a conscious fraud in holy things. That 
their niece was, after the application of the Holy Thorn, 
healed of a tedious and noisome ulcer entirely, suddenly, and 
permanently, seems established by evidence that it would be 
impossible to overturn. But the force of hope and excited 
feeling, is to some modern physiologists a sufficient explana- 



xviii INTRODUCTION. 

tion. They believe that the physical influence of mind over 
body is greater than has been generally supposed, and see in 
this the solution of the mystery. Of the cases of healing, 
in far later years, said to have occurred in the church- 
yard of St. Medard in Paris, at the grave of the Jansenist, 
M. Paris, they were, in proportion to the multitude of 
applicants, few and dubious, ill-authenticated or transitory. 
Hume, indeed, affected to see in these, rivals and counterparts 
of the miracles of the Gospel, so different in number, variety, 
constancy of effect, and sufficiency of authentication. Had 
they been as numerous, startling, and unquestionable, as for 
the purposes of the sceptic's argument they ought to Lave 
been— but as in reality they were not — there are many Pro- 
testants who would see in them no seal of Heaven, but rather 
a new betrayal of the traits and predicted marks of the Anti- 
christ whom Paul denounced, and whom Christ's coming is 
to destroy. Though some thinkers, — the honored Dr. Ward- 
law in his late work on Miracles is one with them, — deny the 
power of working miracles to any but the One Supreme God, 
it has been the judgment of theologians of the highest name 
in former times, that — in Scripture we find, as from reason we 
might anticipate, that — under the government of that Supreme 
Jehovah, He has allowed, under certain limits, the exhibition 
of superhuman power, by beings superior to man, though in- 
ferior to Himself. Satan, too, may work his wonders, though, 
for the purpose they would subserve, they are but lying won- 
ders. The security of man against fatal delusion, lies in the 
fact that God exercises the higher power, and works the more 
numerous, august, and controlling miracles ; and in the prin- 
ciple, that man, in the case of a doctrine claiming superhuman 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

endorsements, must test the doctrine by the Scriptures, as well 
as the alleged miracle and seal by his senses. Buttressed 
about, as Scripture is, by evidence of miracle and prophecy, 
(which is cumulative and germinant miracle,) the great doc- 
trines of Scripture might now legitimately ovcrwcigh any 
amount of supposed miracle that such hostile but superhuman 
agency should be permitted to work, in derogation and con- 
futation of those statements of Revelation. Many of the Pro- 
testant opponents of Rome believe that they see in Scripture 
distinct warning that her claims were to be, at times, aided by 
such feigned and delusive prodigies. And seeing, from the 
histories of Job, and Peter, and Paul, how close the contiguity 
which the deceiver Satan may secure to the task, and path 
even of God's elect, such Protestants can believe that good 
men — the favored and beloved of Heaven, but unhappily en- 
tangled in an unscriptural system and communion — may, as 
the consequence and retribution of that entanglement, have 
been the witnesses and dupes of such specimens of his subtle 
and potent jugglery. Without undertaking to dogmatise on 
a subject intricate and disputed, it would seem that, on such 
principles, we might fully admit the honesty not only, but 
the eminent piety of those witnessing to strange appearances, 
which yet, in connection with the unscriptural doctrines and 
usages they were to support, win neither our submission nor 
our reverence. 

The young and accomplished author, whose first appearance 
the present volume brings with it, seems to us, in most of her 
translations, to have succeeded in preserving an idiomatic, 
flowing, and racy style which might often lead the reader to 
suppose that the document he peruses had been first written 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

in our tongue. In introducing to Christians who speak the 
English language and hold the Protestant system, the char- 
acter and writings, the Christian graces and the bitter trials, 
of a gifted and devout Romanist, the compiler trusts that the 
great truths, in which Jaqueline Pascal, like her fellow-con- 
fessors, was united with us, will be regarded as receiving fresh 
illustration from their effect upon one in whom dignity and 
lowliness, wisdom and simplicity, lofty genius and saintly 
piety, the martyr's firmness and the woman's tenderness, were 
so rarely and beautifully blended. 

WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS. 

13 June, 1853. 



JAQUELINE PASCAL 



Clje | aural $ a mi In. 

The family of the Pascals was truly a remarkable 
one. When Richelieu,* with his eagle glance, perceived 
in his audience chamber Etienne Pascal, accompanied 
by his son Blaise, then about fifteen, and his two girls 
Gilberte and Jaqueline, he was astonished at the chil- 
dren's beauty, and instead of waiting for the father 
to introduce them to his notice, himself bade the elder 
"\iscal take special care of his offspring, saying, " I 
lean to make something great of them." 

Etienne Pascal was himself an excellent man. He 
belonged to an old family of the province of Auvergne, 
in the south of France, studied law in Paris, and re- 
turning thence to his native city of Clermont, pur- 
chased the office of assessor-general. He was after- 
wards made president of the court of excise. In 1618 
he married Antoinette Begon, who died in 1628, leav- 
ing him with three children, Gilberte, Blaise, and 
Jaqueline. In 1630 he sold his office of president, 
together with the greater part of his possessions in 

* The cardinal-duke, who, in the reign of Louis XIII. of France, 
exercised despotic authority as Prime-minister. 



24 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

Auvergne, investing the proceeds in rents of the Hotel- 
de-Ville in Paris, whither he removed in order to edu- 
cate his children, more particularly Blaise. He was a 
well-informed and even a learned man, who associated 
with mathematicians and scientific persons, and shared 
in their toils. There is extant a letter of his to the 
Jesuit Noel, wherein he advises him, in a tone half- 
jest, half-earnest, not to commit himself .in disputing 
with Blaise Pascal about the weight of the atmosphere, 
and warns him that he will find the latter a formidable 
adversary. He bestowed on his son a somewhat sys- 
tematic education, which was not without its influence 
on the bent of his mind. The two daughters also re- 
ceived very thorough instruction. The elder, Gil- 
berte, devoted to the other children all a mother's 
care. Margaret Perier, her daughter, says of her, 
" When my grandfather came to Paris for his chil- 
dren's education, she was ten years old. She married 
at twenty-one, while her father was living in Eouen," 
Monsieur Perier, a distant cousin, who belonged to 
Clermont, but was sent with a commission to Nor- 
mandy in 1640, which he executed so well as to ex- 
cite the esteem of Monsieur Pascal, and the latter gave 
him his daughter's hand. They resided partly in Au- 
vergne, partly in Paris or Eouen. " When at Cler- 
mont, Mad. Perier went into society suitable for per- 
sons of her age and rank, and was much admired, 
being beautiful, graceful, and very witty. My grand- 
father had educated her, and from her earliest youth 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 25 

amused himself with teachingher mathematics, philoso- 
phy, and history." This picture need not be suspected 
of embellishment. The austere Margaret never flatter- 
ed, and such a Jansenist as she would not have noticed 
her mother's beauty, unless it had been something ex- 
traordinary. The Jansenist manuscripts contain many 
of Mad. Perier's letters, but posterity is more indebted 
to her for the well-known " Life of Pascal," au admi- 
rable biography, which makes us love Pascal. His 
sister, in the discharge of her affectionate task, says as 
little as possible of herself, and thinks only of deline- 
ating her brother. Nevertheless, as Reuchlin remarks, 
the Life of Pascal by Mad. Perier, plainly yet uninten- 
tionally reveals the latter's sound sense, and loving 
care for one who was her pride, and whom she deeply 
reverenced. Many sufferings awaited him through 
life, biut she, like a true Martha, stood at his side to 
help him, while Jaqueline, though younger than he, 
may be considered as Pascal's spiritual twin-sister. 
Gilberte early regarded her brother as a superior 
being, both in mind and character, and though she 
was herself no idle spectator of his great achievements, 
Jaqueline exercised a stronger influence over him. 
The latter in after years manifested the spirit of a Mary. 
Hand-in-hand with him she traversed the journey of 
life, and his death soon followed hers. The twin-souls 
were not long divided. 

Jacjueline is a much more remarkable character than 
even Gilberte. Heaven had gifted her with genius as 



26 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

well as with feminine attractions. Ueither in intellect 
nor disposition was she inferior to her brother Pascal, 
and it is impossible to measure what her attainments 
might have been, had she cared for fame, and culti- 
vated her native powers. But perfection, of whatever 
kind, imperiously requires of all who would attain it, 
that they should eagerly and perseveringly search for 
it. To win fame, we must value it, for genius needs 
resolute tillage before it will yield abundant fruit. So 
is it with virtue ; the happiest dispositions, the most 
noble instincts of our nature, are insufficient, unless to 
these be added a determination to do right, submission 
to law, and ceaseless vigilance in order to prevent 
errors, to fortify and develop good impulses, and to 
convert them into good habits. The women of Port 
Eoyal set before themselves great objects, salvation 
and spiritual perfection ; and sought to attain their 
ideal by continued effort, diligent meditation, earnest 
prayer, and austere self-denial. Half as much care 
bestowed on their minds, would have placed them in 
the first rank of writers. Where are tie men who 
have dared more, struggled more, suffered more or 
better than these very women? They knew and 
braved persecution, calumny, exile, imprisonment. 
When they wrote, they did it with a mingled sim- 
plicity and grandeur. We cannot but recognize in 
them minds and hearts of a rare and totally different 
stamp from those of the most brilliant dames in the 
cotemporary court circles. With a little cultivation, 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 27 

tlicy were capable of producing master-pieces. For 
what in fact is style ? The expression of thought and 
character. Whoever thinks meagrely and feels but 
feebly, is incapable of a good style. On the cont way, 
any one of lofty intelligence, devoted to sublime 
templations, and that has a soul in unison with i 
tellect, cannot help occasionally writing lines worthy 
of admiration. And if reflection and study be su j >< ■ r- 
added, such an one has within him the materials of a 
great writer. The More Agn&s and the Mere An- 
gelique wrote much, yet neither they nor their brother 
Antoine Arnauld, left behind them models of compo- 
sition. How was this ? They lacked the difficult art 
of making expression equal the thoughts and feelings 
it was intended to convey. That art they would have 
disdained, or rather rejected as sinful. Far from dis- 
playing their genius, they endeavored to stifle it in 
humility, in silence, and in complete abnegation of the 
world and self. They only wrote as they spoke, from 
pure necessity. Here and there certain beautiful 
phrases escape from them unconsciously, by the sole 
force of noble thought. JBut art being absent, their 
unpolished and careless style soon sinks, and unless 
dictated by strong feeling, becomes diffuse, dull, or dry. 
And Jaqueline Pascal, their disciple, their equal in 
intelligence and feeling, imitated them in the attempt 
to extinguish her own enthusiasm and genius, or rather 
to turn both into another channel. She attained the 
moral excellence she sought ; she failed in attaining 



28 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

the literary excellence slie despised. We acknowledge 
that her writings are not highly polished, but they in- 
dicate great natural talent. Many of her pieces in 
prose and verse are to be found scattered through the 
Jansenist collections ; and to these we have united a 
number of pieces hitherto unpublished, more especially 
letters addressed to her sister Gilberte and her brother 
Pascal. No means of improving our knowledge of 
that noble family ought to be neglected, and Jaque- 
line, moreover, deserves attention for her own sake. 

Gilberte Pascal, not satisfied with writing her bro- 
ther's life, sought also to preserve some memorials of 
her darling sister. Accordingly she composed sketches 
of Jaqueline from early childhood until the latter's 
entrance into the convent of Port Eoyal, which dis- 
play the same simplicity, good sense, and graceful 
style as does the " Life of Pascal." Several paragraphs 
devoted to her aunt, in the Memoirs of Margaret Per- 
ier, Gilberte's daughter, continue and complete her 
mother's work; and by the aid of these sparse frag- 
ments, the biography of Jaqueline Pascal must be 
composed. However, the writings she has left, and 
her confidential letters, show her intellect and disposi- 
tion, and teach us not only to admire but to love her. 
Her life and writings may be divided into three 
parts. 1. From her childhood till her conversion. 
2. Prom her conversion till she became a nun. 3. 
From thence until her death. 

" My sister," says Madame Perier, in her Sketch of 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 29 

the Life of Sister Jaqucline de Sainte Euphemie, by- 
birth Jaqueline Pascal, "waa born at Clermont* on 
the 4th of October, in the year L625. I waa six years 
older than she, and can remember that as soon as she 
began to speak, she gave signs of great intelligence, 
besides being perfectly beautiful, and of a kindly and 
sweet temper, the most winning in the world. She 
was, therefore, as much loved and caressed aa a child 
could possibly be. My father removed to Pari- in 
1631, and took us all with him. My sister was thru 
six years old, still very pretty, and so agreeable that 
she was a general favorite, in request with all our 
friends, and spent but little of her time at home. 

"At seven years old, she began to learn to read, and 
by my father's wish, 1 became her teacher, This was 
a troublesome task, on account of her great aversion 
to it ; and do what I would, I could not coax her to 

* Clermont, a city of Auvergne, one of the southern provinces of 
France, now comprising the Departments of Puy de Dome and Can- 
tal. Auvergne is a mountainous region, proverbial for the obstinacy 
of its inhabitants. Blaise Pascal was proud of his birth-place, and 
Jaqueline thus describes it in one of her poems : — 

" A climate, fertile in unnumber'd charms, 
Though ornaments, save nature's it hath none 
In stern simplicity, untouch'd by art, 
It yields a picture of its Maker's power. 
There, in Auvergne, — from those proud peaks afar 
Whose gloomy heights nor fruit nor harvests know, 
But in their stead dark precipices yawn ; — 
Rises a little hill, so fresh and fair, 
So favored by the Sun's celestial ray, 
That Clairmont seems its most appropriate name." 



30 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

come and say lier lesson. One day, however, I chanced 
to be reading poetry aloud, and the rhythm pleased her 
so much that she said to me, 'If you want me to 
read, teach me out of a verse-book, and then I will 
say my lesson as often as you like.' This surprised 
me, because I did not think that a child of her age 
could distinguish verse from prose ; and I did as she 
wished. After that time she was always talking about 
verses, and learned a great many by heart, for she had 
an excellent memory. She wanted to know the rules 
of poetry, and at eight years old, before knowing how 
to read, she began to compose some that were really 
not bad, a proof how strong in this respect was her 
native bent. 

" She had then two playmates who contributed not 
a little to her enjoyment. They were the daughters 
of Madame Saintot, and themselves made verses, 
though not much older than Jaqueline ; so that in the 
year 1636, when my father took me with him on a 
journey to Auvergne, and Madame de Saintot begged 
that she might keep my sister with her while we were 
gone, the three little girls took it into their heads to 
act a play, and composed plot and verses, without the 
least aid from any one else. It was, however, a co- 
herent piece, and had five acts, divided by scenes reg- 
ularly arranged. They performed it themselves twice, 
with some other actors whom they invited, before a 
large company. Everybody wondered that such chil- 
dren should be capable of constructing a complete 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 31 

work, and many pretty things were discovered in it, 
so that it became the talk of all Paris for a long 
time." 

Thus began the reputation fol talent which Jaquc- 
line never afterwards lost. The play, could we r 
t, would be a curiosity, but it has cntinlv disappeared. 

"My sister still continued to make verses about 
whatever came into her hftid, as well as on all extraor- 
dinary occurrences. At the beginning of 1638, when 
the queen was expecting an heir, she did not fail to 
write on so fine a subject, and these verses were better 
than any of her previous efforts. We lived at that time 
very near Monsieur and Madame de Morangis, who 
took so much delight in the child's pretty ways, that 
she was with her nearly every day. Madame dc 
Morangis, charmed with the idea of Jaqueline's having 
written verses on the queen's situation, said that she 
would take her to St. Germain (one of the royal 
palaces) and present her. She kept her word, and on 
their arrival, the queen being at the moment engaged, 
every one surrounded the little girl, in order to ques- 
tion her and see her verses." Jaqueline was then only 
twelve years old, and so small of her age, that some 
suspicion was naturally awakened whether she had 
really composed them, and her ability was at once 
tested. "Mademoiselle," then very young, said to 

* Mademoiselle cle Moatpensier, daughter of the Duke of Orleans, 
and niece to Louis XIIL, better known in history as the great Made- 
moiselle. She was afterwards one of the most conspicuous heroines 



32 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

her, 'Since you make "verses so well, make some for 
me.' Jaqueline went quietly into a corner and com- 
posed an epigram for the princess, which plainly 
showed that it was written on the spur of the moment, 
by referring to the command that Mademoiselle had 
just given.' It ran as follows : 

' It is our noble princess' will, 
That thou, my Muse, exert thy skill 
To celebrate her charms to-day : 
Hopeless our task ! — the only way 
To praise her well is to avow 
The simple truth — we know not how !' 

Mademoiselle, seeing that she had finished it so 
quickly, said, ' Now make one for Madame de Haute- 
fort.'* She immediately wrote another epigram for 
that lady, which, though very pretty, was easily seen 
to be impromptu. 

' O marvel not, bright master-piece of earth, 
At the prompt tribute by your charms called forth. 
Your glance, that roves the world around 
In every clime hath captives found. 
That ray, which charms my youthful heart, 
May well arouse my fancy's art.' 

Soon after this, permission was given to enter the 

of the Fronde, aod during that struggle ordered the cannon of the 
Bastile to be turned against the royal troops. Late in life she mar- 
ried the Duke de Lauzun, who was greatly her inferior in rank, and 
repaid her condescension with neglect and unkindness. 

* Madame de Hautefort, one of the ladies in waiting on the queen, 
Anne of Austria.. 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 33 

queen's apartment, and Madame de Morangis led my 
sister in. The queen was surprised at her poetry, but 
fancied at first that it was either not her own, or that 
she had been greatly aided. All present thought the 
same, but Mademoiselle removed their doubts by 
showing them the two epigrams that Jaqueline had 
just made in her presence, and by her own orders. 
This circumstance increased the general admiration, 
and from that day forward my sister was often at 
court, and much caressed by the King, the Queen, 
Mademoiselle, and all who saw her. She even had 
the honor of waiting on her Majesty when she dined 
in private, Mademoiselle taking the place of chief 
butler. 

<f She wrote many other pretty things, such as grace- 
ful notes to her friends, and her repartees were re- 
markable for point : one could not wish finer. But 
all this did not in the least lessen her gay good-humor. 
She amused herself most heartily with her play-mates 
in all childish games, and when alone, played with 
her dolls. 

In 1638 a small collection of her poems was printed 
and dedicated to the queen Anne of Austria, who had 
taken so much interest in the little poetess. Several 
of the pieces are addressed to her. Another collection 
was made by Margaret Perier, the niece of Jaqueline, 
many years afterwards. Those poems most likely to 
interest modern readers have been translated, and will 
be given according to their dates. The remainder, 



34 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

though reprinted by M. Cousin, and not destitute of 
poetic grace, yet scarcely deserve transfer into a for- 
eign tongue. They consist of odes in honor of the 
Virgin Mary and St. Cecilia, together with a number 
of short epigrams and love-songs, which it is difficult 
to believe could have been written by one so young. 
Even in that age of gallantry, they drew from Bens- 
seracle, a poet of some note, and the rival of Voiture, 
a long address, one verse of which says — 

" When girls of thirteen sigh and weep for love, 
'Tis often wrong ; 
But genius lifts thee common rules above, 
Fair child of song !" 

Jaqueline herself considered her poetic talent as an 
instinct implanted by her Creator, for which she 
claimed no merit, but ascribed all the glory to Him. 
A little poem on this subject, written in August, 1638, 
is not without a degree of elevation, both in thought 
and style. 

STANZAS 

THANKING GOD FOR THE POWER OF WRITING POETRY. 

Lord of the Universe, 

If the strong chains of verse 
Round my delighted soul their links entwine, 

Here let me humbly own 

The gift is Thine alone, 
And comes, great God, from no desert of mine. 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 35 

Yea. Lord, how many long 
For the sweet power of song, 
Which thou hast placed in my young feeble heart ; 
Thy bounties Btring my lyre, 

And, with celestial fire, 
To my dull soul a hidden light impart. 

Lord, a thankless mind 
Will not acquittal find 

In thy pure presence. Therefore it is just 
That, touched with godlike flame, 

1 should thy love proclaim, 

And chant the glories of thy name august. 

As waterfalls, and rills, 

And streams wind past the hills 
In steady progress toward their parent sea, 

Thus Lord, my simple lays, 

Heedless of this world's praise, 
Find their way home, Source Divine, to Thee ! 
August, 1G38. 

In the following year the tranquillity of home, that 
important requisite in Etienne Pascal's plan of educa- 
tion, was suddenly disturbed by an event, the conse- 
quences of which, greatly influenced the bent of his 
children's minds, and their ultimate destiny. France 
was then at war with Spain, and the contest not tak- 
ing so favorable a turn as had been predicted at its 
commencement, the government found itself in urgent 
need of funds. The all-important supplies were ob- 
tained by dint of attentions and flattery to the corpo- 
ration of Paris, which induced them to acquiesce in 



36 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

measures for the arbitrary seizure of private property. 
The elder Pascal had, as we have seen, made large in-> 
vestments in bonds of the Hotel-de-Ville, and Cardinal 
Eichelieu plundered him, as well as others, of a por- 
tion of their income. This injustice came near pro- 
voking an insurrection. Some of the greatest stock- 
holders, among whom was Pascal, went in March 
1638 to the Chancellor, and remonstrated so strongly, 
even threateningly, against the wrong done to them- 
selves and to four or five hundred more, that the 
Chancellor became alarmed, and Richelieu gave orders 
to have the malcontents arrested. Pascal, learning 
betimes that some of his companions were in the Bas- 
tile, thought it advisable to travel incognito into Au- 
vergne, and thus when the halberdiers came to search 
his dwelling, he could not be found. 

Mad. Perier's account of the transaction is this : 
" In March, 1638, my father, together with many 
other persons who, like himself, were interested in the 
rents charged upon the Hotel-de-Yille, was at the 
Chancellor's house, where words were spoken, and 
some acts occurred, slightly violent, not to say sedi- 
tious, which being reported to the Cardinal de Riche- 
lieu, he ordered the chief actors to the Bastile. My 
father was supposed to be one of their number, and 
search was accordingly made at his residence for him, 
but he effected his escape, while three of the others 
were taken. Meantime he remained in concealment 
at the houses of different friends, without daring to 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 37 

come home at all. He was very much comforted un- 
der this affliction by Jaqueline'e endearing ways, for 
he loved her with unusual tenderness. But this con- 
solation did not last long, for in September of that 
same year, she became most dangerously ill of the 
small-pox. My father then forgot his fears, and said 
that let the risk be what it might, he must be al borne, 
in order to watch with his own eyes the course of her 
illness. And he really never left her for a moment, 
not even sleeping out of her room. She recovered, 
but her countenance was quite disfigured, and being 
then thirteen, she was old enough to value beauty and 
to regret its loss. And yet, this mischance did not in 
the least trouble her ; on the contrary, she considered 
it as a mercy, and in some verses composed as a thank- 
offering, she said that her pitted face seemed to* her 
the guardian of her innocence, and these traces of dis- 
ease certain signs that God would keep her from evil. 
All this was done of her own accord." 

A translation of this little poem is here given. Dr. 
Eeuchlin remarks that there is something about it 
painfully precocious for one of her years, yet her 
precocity does not seem to have made her unhappy ; 
as her sister goes on to say, " She did not leave the 
house during the whole winter, not being fit to ap- 
pear in company, but her time did not hang heavily, 
for she was very busy with her trinkets and dolls." 



38 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

STANZAS 

THAXKING GOD FOR RECOVERY FROM THE SMALL-POX 

Ruler of earth and skies ! 
Bid Thou my hynm arise 

As from an angel's tongue ; 
I sound no mortal's praise, 
To Thee my voice I raise, 
And at Thine altars chant my grateful song. 

Thou, from Thy throne above, 
Hast looked, in sovereign love, 

On a poor earth-worm's trail ; 
Thy hand my fever broke, 
And shielded from death's stroke 
A racked and restless frame, than glass more frail. 

All men, great God, may see 
Thy pure benignity 

To one so weak and worn ; 
Without Thy loving aid 
Thus wondrously displayed, 
My life had faded in its April morn. 

When, in the mirror, I 
Scars of mine illness spy, 

Those hollow marks attest 
The heart-rejoicing truth, 
That I am Thine, in sooth, 
For Thou dost chasten whom Thou lovest best. 

I take them for a brand 
That, Master, thy kind hand 

Would on my forehead leave, 
Mine innocence to show : — 
And shall I murmur ? No. 
While Thy rod comforts me, I will not grieve. 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 89 

But Lord, in v vrotk is vain, 
No human heart or strain 

To praise thee hath the skill. 
To tell Thy bounties here 
That charm the eye and ear, 
my power, lull oannol pass my will. 
November, 1638. 

Cardinal Kichelieu had an unfortunate idea that his 
taste in poetry and the fine arts was fully equal to his 
vast political genius ; and in February, 1639, he took 
a fancy to have some children act a play, selecting 
for that purpose not one of Corneille's masterpieces, 
but a tragedy by Mademoiselle Scuderi, entitled Ty- 
rannic Love, which suited his own false taste. His 
niece, the Duchess d'Aiguillon, undertook to find the 
little girls who should perform it, and asked Madame 
de Saintot if she would allow her younger daughter 
to act, sending at the same time an invitation for 
Jaqueline Pascal to take a part. Gilberte, who in 
Etienne Pascal's absence was mistress of the house, 
proudly answered : " The Cardinal has not been kind 
enough to us, to make us take any pains to give him 
pleasure ;" alluding to her father's constrained exile. 
The Duchess was an excellent woman, who often 
sought to remedy instances of individual suffering oc- 
casioned by her uncle's political measures, and knew 
well how to effect this by humoring his weak points. 
She therefore requested Gilberte to withdraw her re- 
fusal, adding that she thought there was a possibility 



40 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of obtaining her father's recall, if his little girl were 
to petition the Cardinal, and promising to use her 
own influence in his behalf both with her uncle and 
the Chancellor. Gilberte then asked leave to consult 
her friends, to whom advice coming from so high a 
quarter seemed of such moment, that they thought 
the opportunity must by no means be let pass. A 
celebrated actor of those days, called Monetary, who 
came from Clermont, and had assumed the name of 
Mondory, because it had belonged to his godfather, 
an Auvergnese of rank, was accordingly engaged to 
teach the child her allotted part, and took great pains 
with her. " She performed," says Madame Perier, 
whose modesty did not allow her to chronicle her 
own spirited reply, not unworthy of a Cornelia, " so 
charmingly that she delighted everybody, especially as 
she was very small, and had a childish face, more like 
that of a girl of eight than of thirteen. After the 
play, she stepped down from the stage, that Madame 
de Saintot might lead her to Madame d'Aiguillon, 
who wished to present her to the Cardinal ; but, seeing 
that something delayed Madame de Saintot, and that 
the Cardinal was rising to withdraw, she went up to 
him all alone. When he saw her coming, he sat down 
again, took her on his knee, and caressing her, per- 
ceived that she was weeping. He asked what was 
the matter, and she then repeated to him the follow- 
ing address : 



THE PASCAL FAMILY. 41 

'Deem it not strange, thou Prince without a peer, 
If I have failed to hold thine eye and ear; 
My trembling frame Beema palsied with dismay, 

And trouble steals my very voice away. 

If thou wouldst have me win thy gracious smile, 

Call back a banished father from exile. 

Of clemency oft proved this boon I orave* 

From perils vast the innocent to Bare. 

Thus wilt thou set soul, voice, and gesture free 

To task their utmost skill in pleasing thee.' 

Madame d'Aiguillon added many obliging entreat- 
ies, and the Cardinal at length told Jaqueline thai he 
would grant her request, and her father might return 
whenever he chose. And then this mere child, with- 
out any prompting, said to him : ' My lord, I have 
still another favor to ask of your eminence.' The 
Cardinal was so enchanted both with her graceful be- 
havior and the slight freedom that she had taken, that 
he said to her, ' Ask what you like, and I will grant 
it.' She answered : ' I entreat your eminence to al- 
low my father the honor of paying his respects to you 
on his return, so that he may himself thank you for 
the kindness you have done us all to-day.' The Car- 
dinal said : ' Not only granted, but it is just what I 
wish. Tell him, that he need have no apprehension 
in coming, and let him bring his whole family with 
him.' " Margaret Perier, in relating the above scene, 
says that her mother, then about nineteen, and Blaise 
Pascal, then fifteen, were standing near, both in the 
full bloom of youthful beauty, and that the Cardinal 



42 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

expressed pleasure at the idea of restoring a father to 
so lovely a family. He then committed Jaqueline to 
Madame d'Aiguillon's care, and requested her to see 
that all the young actresses were supplied with re- 
freshments, which was done magnificently. 

On his arrival in Paris, M. Pascal lost no time in 
paying his respects to the Cardinal at Euel. The lat- 
ter, when his name was announced, asked if the gen- 
tleman were alone, and on being told that he was, 
sent him word that he could not have an audience 
until he came accompanied by his family. Next day 
he took with him all three of his children, and the 
Cardinal received him very graciously, saying that 
he felt great gratification in restoring a man of so 
much merit to a family deserving his tenderest care, 
and bade him watch over his children, promising to 
make something great of them in the future. 

Mademoiselle Scuderi testified her gratitude for 
Jaqueline's aid in the performance of her tragedy, by 
addressing to her some complimentary lines, which 
M. Cousin characterizes as commonplace, and yet full 
of bombast. The little girl, whom she had styled 
Cassandra, politely replied : 

"Were I Cassandra, famed of yore 

For beauty that could burn 
The Sun's bright heart to ashes, I would spurn 

Her prophet-dowry, and implore 
Froui the Parnassian god a better spell, — 
The wished-for knowledge, how to praise you well." 



Clje |)'oun§ faetas at ^{ount. 

Cardinal Richelieu soon proved the sincerity of 
his expressions of good-will, by selecting Eticnne Pas- 
cal as one of the commissioners appointed to discharge 
the duties of Intendant for the province of Normandy, 
in the district of Rouen, where in an insurrection of 
the peasantry occasioned by the introduction of a new 
system of taxation, the rebels had defied the local 
authorities, destroyed the Receipt-office, and murdered 
some of the collectors. The Government, convinced 
that the Parliament of Rouen had not done its duty, 
sent thither two independent commissioners, armed 
with full power to enforce the laws. To one of these, 
M. de Paris, was committed the oversight of the mili- 
tary, to his colleague, M. Pascal, that of the finances. 
A body of troops supported them, under command of 
the fierce soldier, Gassion, a Calvinist, in company 
with whom Pascal commenced his journey, and who 
had to force his way through the streets of Rouen, and 
to put down the obstinate resistance of the peasants, 
nicknamed the Barefooted, with fire and sword. Pascal 
performed the troublesome task of setting a large part 



44 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of the Eecords and accounts to rights with exemplary 
resolution and probity, forbidding his subordinates to 
accept the smallest gratuity, and even discharging his 
own secretary, though a relative, because he had re- 
ceived a louis-d'or. The interest which his son Blaise 
took in the regulation of this business, led him to in- 
vent his extraordinary calculating machine, which was 
patented in 1649. 

As soon as it was practicable, Btienne Pascal sum- 
moned his family to their new home. Corneille, the 
creator of the French classic drama, was then living 
in Eouen, his birth-place ; he frequently visited the 
new-comers, and aided in the cultivation of Jaqueline's 
taste and the development of her poetic talent. By 
his advice she became a competitor for the prize which 
an old custom of Eouen awarded to the writer of the 
best poem on the Church holiday of the Conception 
of the Virgin ; but when the festival was celebrated, 
and the president of the ceremony announced that the 
prize was hers, she was absent. Corneille, however, 
rose and improvised a brief address of thanks in her 
name. The prize was brought to her with drums, 
trumpets, and a grand procession, " yet," says Mad. 
Perier, " she received it with wonderful composure. 
Though she was then fifteen, she was as frolicksome 
as a little child, and still found much amusement in 
her dolls. We used to scold her for this, but had 
great difficulty in getting her to give up childish plays, 
which she much preferred to the distinguished society 



THE YOUNG POETESS AT ROUEN. 46 

of the town, although *\n- received general admiration. 
She took no pleasure in fame or applause, and I never 
Saw any one care less for them. 

" The reputation she had acquired from early child- 
hood, instead of lessening as she grew older, increased, 
because she possessed those noble qualities that suit 
every age, so that she was invited everywhere, and 
those who did not know her intimately, were anxious 
for her acquaintance. When she went into company 
without being expected, every one was rejoiced at her 
entrance, but it was most remarkable that she was 
never in the least puffed up, and received such atten- 
tion with an indifference that only made her the more 
beloved : her daily companions not being at all jeal- 
ous, but doing, on the contrary, all they could to in- 
crease the esteem felt for her, by making known her 
private excellences, her gentleness, her kindness, and 
her lively, yet equable temper." 

In 1641, Gilberte Pascal married Florin Perier, a 
distant cousin of her father's. They lived two years 
in Eouen, and then went back to Clermont. Jaque- 
line's life for the next few years, seems to have been 
pleasant and uneventful. " During this time," con- 
tinues her sister, " there were many opportunities for 
her marriage, but divine providence always interposed 
some obstacle. On these occasions she never showed 
either like or dislike, being perfectly submissive to my 
father's will, though as yet uninfluenced by religion, 
towards which, indeed, she felt alienation and even a 



4b JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

little contempt, believing that many of its practices 
conld not satisfy a person of reflection." Poor Jaque- 
line ! was it strange that a mind like hers should be 
perplexed in view of the many puerilities that overload 
the truths of the Gospel, in the corrupted system of 
Christianity under which it was her misfortune to be 
born ? It appears that some of her associates must 
have been of the Eeformed faith, since, in 1645, we 
find her addressing a poem of mingled regret and 
affection to one friend on the decease of another. The 
piece is entitled : 

CONSOLATION FOR THE DEATH OF A HUGUENOT 
LADY. 

Phillis, calm your dreadful grief, 
Let the anguish find relief 
That bewails your buried friend, 
Or your days must swiftly end, — 
And to lose you were such pain 
That I could not life sustain. 

Vain are all your bitter cries ; — 
Deatb, alas ! is deaf to sighs, 
And to tears is also blind. 
Were his nature -less unkind, 
He had reverenced the charms 
Withered in his wintry arms. 

Naught escapes him here below, 
For his stern impartial blow 
Heeds not happiness or woe. 
Homely features, beauty's brow, 



THE YOUNG POETESS AT ROUEN. 4.7 

Guilt, and iunoccnee must bow, 
And the might of Death allow. 

Change is marked on all we see ; 
Our most firm felicity, 
As we grasp it, fades away. 
Even you, some dreary day, 
Will bo mourned by those who now 
Seek your love with tearful vow 

I pretend not, by discourse 

To arrest the rapid course 

Of the thoughts that vex you so. 

All their bitterness I know. 

And your grief I cannot blama 

While my soul partakes the same. 

Friendly tears were never shed 
O'er a lovelier lady dead : 
Cloris was, in form and face, 
Gifted with angelic grace ; 
But, in youth's enchanting bloom, 
Fate has laid her in the tomb. 

You have deeper cause to groan ! 
O'er her state a shade is thrown, 
Anxious doubts your spirit chafe, 
As you ask, " Can she be safe ? — 
She who died, remaining still 
A heretic in act and will ?" 

Doubt not, in the dying hour, 

That her strengthened soul had power, 

By afflictions purified, 

Every weight to cast aside : — 

Light celestial entering in, 

That she meekly owned her sin. 



48 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

And, O Lord, if earthly love 

Can thy tender pity move, 

Hear the prayers we'll henceforth make 

In thy temple, for her sake 

Whom Thou didst create so fair, 

But who never worshipped there. 

Her ill-fated birth alone 
Caused the errors we bemoan ; 
Blinded by her zeal's excess, 
And her filial tenderness, 
To the last she persevered 
In the faith her sire revered. 

Thou didst on her spirit shower 
Heavenly 'gifts, the precious dower 
Of the souls that love Thee best : — 
Calm devotion filled her breast, 
And the flame of sacred love 
Raised her hopes to Thee above. 

Day by day her dearest care 
"Was to serve the Lord by prayer. 
Could her faith so fruitful be 
If it were not given of Thee ? 
Shall the zeal Thou didst bestow 
Sink her in eternal woe ? 

In my dim and sinful state, 
Lord, I dare not penetrate 

Secrets that thy wisdom hides, 
But thy goodness yet abides ; — 
And thine equitable will 
Is with mercy tempered still. 

Therefore, Phillis, weep no more ; — 
Since the God whom we implore 



THE YOUNG POETESS AT ROUEN. 49 

Chides your grief, and bids you hope 

In His love's unl tided scope; 

Following thus th' example set 
By the friend win 'in yoa regret. 

One or two minor poems, written during her resi- 
dence in Rome, may be inserted here. 



DEVOTIONAL SONNET. 

glorious Architect of earth and sea, 
Yet of frail man the Maker and the stay, 
Here at Thine altar's foot I humbly pray, 

Let thy world-sheltering Love encircle me. 

Well may my every hope be built on Thee, 
For I can hear unmoved the thunder's growl, 
Can brave e'en demons, and their whispers foul, 

When my heart trusteth in thy sure decree. 

But ah ! the power of sin o'erwhelms my frame, 
Frustrates my wishes, makes my spirit tame, 
And dims the lustre of its zealous flame. 
Its languor pardon, Lord ! My strength uphold, 
Make my weak nature in thy service bold, 
Let not Thy love in my faint heart wax cold. 
February, 1640. 

SERENADE. 

O pure and lovely Clarice, rise, 
Bid sleep depart from those sweet eyes ! 
We blame thee not, that through the day 
Thy charms should drive our peace away, 
Then is it just for thee to sleep 
While they who love thee, vigil keep ? 
S 



50 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

mark the sorrows of niy soul r 
List to my sighs, and then console ; 
Or if thy heart I cannot gain, 
Lend me thine ear while I complain, 
And since thy frowns forbid my sleep, 
Share thon the weary watch I keep. 

In 1646, the elder Pascal, -while absent from home 
on a charitable errand, slipped upon some ice, fell, 
and dislocated his thigh. This occurrence occasioned 
an increase of intimacy between his family and two 
noblemen living in the environs of Eonen, who w r ere 
often called upon to remedy similar accidents. They 
were brothers, belonging to the numerous family of 
Bailleul, one having the title De la Bouteillerie, and 
the other that of Deslandes. From childhood they 
had shown peculiar skill in the setting of broken or 
dislocated bones, and had made anatomy and medi- 
cine their favorite studies, at first by way of amuse- 
ment, until they became attracted by the preaching 
of a worthy servant of God, named Guillebert, the 
pastor of Eouville, who had shared the captivity of 
St. Cyran. The eloquence of this man was so great, 
that people came from all parts to hear him preach, 
and members of the parliament of Eouen were accus- 
tomed to hire lodgings at the village of Eouville, and 
spend their Saturday nights there, in order to be 
ready for his Sabbath discourses. The two noblemen 
placed themselves under this clergyman's spiritual 
guidance, and each soon had a small hospital erected 



THE YOUNG POETESS AT ROUEN. 51 

in his own park. Dcslandcs, who had ten children, 
furnished his building with ten beds; his brother, 
who was childless, provided twenty, and both spent 
much time in attendance on the sick. 

They replaced Etienne Pascal's dislocated limb, and 
were kind enough to remain three months with him 
for the sake of effecting a perfect cure. " The whole 
family," says Madame Perier, "was benefited by their 
residence in it." Hitherto, the Pascals had been 
regarded as not only upright, but pious people. 
Gilberte assures us that the fear of God had always 
kept her brother Blaise from yielding to youthful 
temptations ; "and what, for a mind like his, was still 
more extraordinary," continues she, "he had never 
been inclined to become a freethinker in matters of 
religion, but had confined his researches within the 
limits of natural philosophy. He often told me, that 
he felt deeply grateful to my father for having led 
him from earliest childhood to reverence religion, and 
impressed on his mind the fundamental truth, that 
matters of divine revelation are not to be tried, much 
less condemned, at the tribunal of human reason. 
This maxim, often repeated by a father whom he 
deeply reverenced, and whose teachings on other sub- 
jects were always sustained by clear and powerful ar- 
guments, became so firmly rooted in his soul, that 
even in early youth, he looked upon infidels as men. 
whose assertion of the universal sovereignty of hu- 
man reason places them on a false foundation, and 



52 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

betrays their entire ignorance of the nature of faith. 
His noble, expansive spirit, -while it eagerly thirsted 
for knowledge, and made diligent search into the 
mysteries of science, was yet, in the concerns of re- 
ligion, humble as a little child. This principle of un- 
questioning faith governed his whole life, and when 
in after-years his thoughts were completely engrossed 
with spiritual realities, to the exclusion of every other 
topic, he never busied himself with curious or enticing 
questions of theology, but bent his soul's full strength 
to the attainment of Christian holiness, dedicating to 
this object every talent he possessed, and meditating 
clay and night upon the law of his God." 

Up to this time, however, (1646,) the piety of the 
family, though sincere and active, was not enlight- 
ened (eclaire). "This expression," says Keuchlin, "so 
characteristic of Port Eoyal, while, on the one hand, 
it comprehends a careful observance of church rules, 
frequent confession and communion, and the practice 
of good works, on the other includes the truth, that 
God's service and the world's can never be united, 
and that man can only obtain eternal salvation as the 
free gift of God's grace." The experience of renewed 
hearts, however differing in minor details, however 
alloyed with more or less of error, is everywhere sub- 
stantially the same. "Not by works of righteousness 
which we had done, but according to his mercy he 
saved us," had been the watchword of the great 
Apostle of the Gentiles, and of Luther in his fierce 



THE YOUNG POETESS AT ROUEN. 53 

battle with Rome ; and now these obscure members 
of that apostate communion having grasped the same 
blessed truth, were treading in the footsteps of their 
Lord, and causing others to take knowledge of them 
that they had been with Jesus. " The edifying dis- 
course and exemplary lives of their visitors," says 
Madame Perier, "made my father, brother, and 
wish to read the books which had aided them in at- 
taining to so great a degree of holiness, and fl i ie 
their first acquaintance with the works of Jansenius, 
M, de St. Cyran, Arnauld, and others that were of 
great service to them." Blaise was the first to set the 
example of holiness and self-denial, to taste the hap- 
piness of solitary communion with the Lord of angels 
and of men, and to rest his whole hope of salvation 
on the righteousness of his Redeemer. He at once 
endeavored to make his sister Jaqueline a partaker of 
this new-found joy, and she, although, as we have 
seen, her genius and amiability made her the darling 
of society, could not long withstand his loving en- 
treaties and example. Thenceforth, she called herself 
his spiritual daughter. Her father in like manner be- 
came the child of his children, learning from them to 
give himself, heart and life, to God. M. and Madame 
Perier visited Rouen that same year, and became the 
subjects of a similar change. The whole family 
placed themselves under the tuition of Pastor Guille- 
bert, who made no half work with his converts. Mar- 
garet Perier, in her Memoirs, gives us a specimen of 



54 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

his dealings and their effect : " My father and mother 
sat under the ministry of M. Guillebert, Doctor of 
the Sorbonne, a very holy and discreet man. He 
counselled my mother, who was then twenty -six years 
old, to lay aside all her ornaments, and wear no trim- 
mings on her dresses, which she cheerfully did. Af- 
ter she had staid at Eouen for two years, wearing the 
most unpretending attire, she was obliged to return to 
Clermont. M. Guillebert then told her that he had an 
important piece of advice to give her, and it was this : 
That ladies whose piety prevented them from wearing 
ornaments, often took pleasure in decorating their 
children, and that she must be careful to avoid doing 
so, gay dress being far more injurious to children who 
are naturally fond of it, than to grown persons who, 
knowing its .frivolity, care but little for it. Accord- 
ingly, on her return to Clermont, in the fall of 1648, 
where she had left my sister, then a little over four 
years old, and myself, then not quite three, she found 
that my grandmother, who had charge of us in her 
absence, had dressed us both in frocks embroidered 
with silver, and fully trimmed with ribbons and lace, 
as was then the fashion. My mother took everything 
off and clad us in gray camlet, without lace or ribbon. 
She forbade our nurse to let us play with two little 
girls of our own age in the neighborhood, whom be- 
fore our mother came we had seen every day, lest we 
should acquire a love for the gay garments they usu- 
ally wore. She was so particular on this point, that 



THE YOUNG P< T 110UEN. 55 

in 1651, when my grandfather Pascal died, and she 

was obliged to be present in Paris at the settlement 
of liis estate, she chose to incur the expense of I 
us with her, for fear that my grandmother would 
make us dress in finer clothes, if we were left under 
her care. She always taught us to wear the mosl sim- 
ple and modest clothing, and I can say with truth, 
that since I was between two and three years old, I 
have never worn cither gold, silver, colored ribbons, 
curls, or la> 

"About the close of that year (1040), M. dc BeUay, 
the bishop of that sec, was holding an ordination at 
Kouen, and my sister," says Mad. Perier, " who had 
not yet been confirmed, wished to receive that sacra- 
ment. For this she prepared according to the hints 
she had found in the writings of M. dc St. Cyran, 
and we may believe that she then really received the 
influences of the Holy Ghost, since her character from 
thenceforward was completely changed." 

To this period of her life, Dr. Keuchlin is of opin- 
ion that the following letter, addressed to her sister, 
belongs, although its date, as found in the Jansenist 
collection of manuscripts, is two years earlier.* It 
seems to express the state of mind with which Jaque- 
line for the first time partook of the communion, and 

* These manuscripts are not so remarkable for accuracy in dates as 
they are for rough outlines of characters and events. The letter it- 
self refers to the works of Singlin, and Jaqueline was uuaequainted 
with the Jansenist authors before her father met with his accident. 



56 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

breathes throughout the unmingled rapture of a new- 
born soul : 

March 24, 1644 (1646). 
My Dear Sister, 

I only received yours of January 2 2d last evening, 
but it brought me no small comfort. I am heartily glad of 
the happy meeting you speak of; it really seems a special 
favor vouchsafed to me, and all the greater, because so en- 
tirely undeserved. If you were my confessor, I might explain 
this more fully, but as it is, you must not fail to plead earnestly 
in your devotions, that our Lord and his Mother may obtain 
for me, by the merits of His death, that grace I so greatly 
need. And you will not forget all our family, nor yet the na- 
tion ; so that I shall not speak of them here. Only I beg 
that one of your subjects of prayer next Thursday may be the 
public manifestation, or at least a private manifestation to cer- 
tain persons of an important fact now concealed, though its 
effects are wonderful. You must say, as did Jesus, "Father, 
if it be possible," which means, " if it be for Thy glory," add- 
ing, at the same time, " Thy will be done," and implore that 
God would deign to send His own light into their hearts rather 
than their intellects. This has for some time past been the 
burden of many of my prayers. I mean of those prayers which 
are only, as M. de St. Cyran says, the heart's desire. I repeat 
my request for you to join me in supplicating for this thing, 
about which my anxiety is excessive, though chiefly lest any- 
thing should be said or done contrary to God's command. If 
you were here, what a relief it would be to open my whole 
heart to you ! God has denied me this consolation. Blessed 
be his Holy name ! I will try not to wish for that which He 
does not see fit to grant. One advantage, certainly, belongs 
to Christians. If they are prohibited from joining in this 
world's pleasures, they are also forbidden to grieve over its 
misfortunes, and even told to rejoice in them. Now as the 
latter are of far more frequent occurrence than the former, the 



THE YOUNG POETESS Al KOUEN. 57 

believer's joy mus I necessarily be more uninterrupted. There- 
fore our Lord Jesus Christ says, v - Four joy do man taketh 
from you," and we are bound to feel with the Apostle, who, 
on another topic, exclaims, " Eow can he be afflicted, whose 
very sorrows turn into joy ?" 

When I perceive that this looks like an attempt at giving 
you instruction, which God forbid that I, having neither right 
nor qualification, should presume to do, I remember that M. 
Singlin remarks, "That our prayers to God are nol meant 
to remind Him of our wants, which, as our Lord saya, 'are all 
known to Him before we ask,' bu1 are offered in order that we 
may ourselves remember them.'' I say the same to yon, once 
tor all, so do not forget it. Pray to God for me, with your 
whole heart, and give Him thanks for his mercies to us all, 
but offer up special prayers ami praises on my brother's ac- 
count. I am writing just what comes into my head. Once 
more, pray for me; I need it. Ask of God that He would, 
so to speak, pass a sponge over the time I have wasted, the 
opportunities I have neglected, and the favorable moments I 
have let slip, for they are innumerable. Entreat Him to ac- 
cept the obedience I render him by receiving blessings of 
which I am unworthy. 

3* 



fcrl |VapL 



The intense industry with which Blaise Pascal ap- 
plied himself to study, was a great injury to his health. 
He himself said that from the age of eighteen, he had 
never known what it was to be free from pain for a 
single day, although his sufferings were not always 
equally severe. His sister, Mad. Perier, has given us 
some idea of what he had to bear. " Besides other 
inconveniences, he was unable to swallow any liquid 
unless it was made lukewarm, and allowed to trickle 
drop by drop down his throat. In order to relieve 
his intolerable headaches, the great inward fever, and 
other ailments to which he was subject, his physicians 
ordered him to take certain medicines every alternate 
day for three months. These had to be swallowed in 
the same tedious, lukewarm way ; a process which 
seldom failed to nauseate all who witnessed it, though 
the patient never once complained. For a long period 
his lower limbs were paralyzed, and he could not move 
without crutches, his feet were cold as marble, and to 
procure any warmth in them, he had to wear stock- 
ings dipped in brandy." 



POET ROYAL. 59 

The Fifteen Prayers in which Pascal pleads for 
grace to make a right use of sic] re probably 

composed at this time. A few sentences have been 
translated as specimens of the rest. 

"O Lord, who art in all things s.> good and compassionate 
that not only the prosperity, but the humiliations of Thin.' 
elect ones, are the effects of Thy mercy, keep me, by Thy 
grace from behaving like a heathen in the • which 

Thou hast most justly reduced me, and may I, as a true i 
tian, always acknowledge Thee to be my Father and my <; ".l. 
For the changes in my condition affect not Thee, Whatever 
vicissitudes befall me, Thou art the same, and none the less 
God when Thou dost afflict and punish, than in my seasons 
of ease and indulgence. — And since the Btrong corruption of 
my nature has rendered Thy former blessingB (of health) in- 
jurious, grant, Lord, that Thy all-powerful grace may now 
make Thy chastenings the means of restoring my spiritual 
health. Either through bodily weakness, or the strength of 
divine love in my soul, may I become incapable of enjoying 
the world, and find in Thee my chief delight — Cause me, < > 
Lord, to adore in silence the way in which Thy gracious 
Providence has meted out my days ; let Thy rod comfort me, 
and having in my prosperity tasted the bitterness of sin, may 
I, in this season of salutary affliction, experience the heavenly 
sweetness of Thy grace. Open Thou my heart, and take pos- 
session of that rebellious place which sin has occupied; bind 
Thou the mighty enemy who rules there, and then appropriate 
his treasures ; seize my affections now stolen by the world ; 
rob Thou the robber, or rather reclaim wdiat is Thine own, by 
right of creation and redemption. — my God, how happy is 
the heart that loves an object so attractive as Thyself, so bless- 
ed in its influence on the worshipper, so incapable of shaming 
trust ! — Far, Lord, from pretending that there is any merit in 
my prayers, or any necessity compelling Thee to grant them, 



60 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

I desire to bless Thee for the right emotions Thou dost inspire, 
and even for the wish to ascribe their origin to Thee. Teach 
me, I pray Thee, that bodily pains are at once the emblem 
and consequence of spiritual disease. that they might also 
be its remedy by leading me to consider the far more danger- 
ous though invisible ulcers of my soul, and to look unto Thee 
for help and healing. Enable me to feel that deep repentance 
•without which physical suffering is but a new occasion of sin ; 
graciously mingle Thy consolations with -my pains, and help 
me to bear them in a Christian spirit. I ask not exemption 
from trial, which is the recompense of glorified saints, but oh, 
let not my natural anguish be unsoo thed by the comforts of 
the Holy Ghost, for this is the curse of Jews and pagans, and 
while I suffer, may I experience that sorrow for sin, and that 
satisfaction in Thy supporting grace, which are among the 
privileges of the true Christian. — Grant, O Lord, that with a 
continual and calm serenity, I may submit to every event, in 
the conviction that I know not what to pray for as I ought, 
and that by presumptuously demanding any special favor, I 
must become responsible for results which Thou hast in Thy 
wisdom hidden. Lord, I know myself to be certain of but 
this one thing : it is good to follow Thee, — it is evil to offend 
Thee. Beyond this, I am ignorant of what is best or worst 
for me, whether sickness or health, poverty, wealth, or any 
earthly allotment. Such discernment passes the power of 
man or angel, and belongs to those secrets of Thy Providence 
which I adore, but seek not to fathom. Make me, therefore, 
always content with Thy will ; — being now sick, may I glorify 
Thee in my sufferings, knowing that without them I cannot 
attain unto glory, and that Thou, O my Saviour, didst choose 
to be made perfect thereby. The marks of Thine agony 
once revealed Thee to Thy waiting disciples, and Thou dost 
still set on Thy followers Ihe seal of tribulation. Number me 
among them, and since nothing can be acceptable to the 
Father unless offered by Thee, blend, Master, my will with 



PORT ROYAL. 61 

Thine, and my pains with those Thou didst endure. Unite 
me to Thyself, and fill me \\itli Thy Holy Spirit Enter into 
my heart and soul, there to Bhare my sorrows and to com- 
plete in me the measure of Thy Bufferings which yel remains 
to be endured byThy members, until the perfect consummation 
of Thy body the Church, ao that) being <>n>' with Thee, I shall 
no longer live or Buffer of myself but Thou, < » my Saviour, 
wilt live and suffer in me, and having thus endured bnl a 
small part of Thine anguish. Thou wilt one day till me with 
the glory it has won for Thee, wherein Thou lives! with the 
Father and the Uoly Ghost, world without end. Amen." 

As soon as Pascal's health was a little improved, he 
determined to make a visit to Paris, and consult the 
physicians there. Jaqueline accompanied, him. Dur- 
ing their stay, his reputed attainments in science gain- 
ed him attentions from many distinguished men, 
among whom was the celebrated Descartes, well 
known as one of the greatest mathematicians and 
thinkers of his age.* He was also an amateur physi- 

* Descartes was a wonderful example of patient self-deuial and 
love of truth. He devoted thirty years of his life to philosophic in- 
vestigations, and lived in the midst of Paris like a hermit, till, im- 
agining that the air of the capital was unfavorable to thought, he 
withdrew to Holland, and there spent many years in the discovery 
and promulgation of what he believed to be truth. Being driven 
thence on a charge of atheism, he returned to Paris, where new per- 
secutions awaited him, and he died, at the age of 54, in exile, under 
the patronage of Queen Christina of Sweden. The celebrated axiom, 
Jepense, doncje suis, "I think, therefore I am," became the founda- 
tion of his vast system of philosophy, which was constructed by dint 
of persevering labor, and long regarded with revereuce, although in- 
consistent with after-discoveries, and in some respects with Revela- 
tion. 



G2 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

clan, and hopes were entertained that his skill might 
be useful in the treatment of Pascal's complicated ails. 

Jaqueline sent Mad. Perier an account of the inter- 
view. A brief sketch of Pascal's experiments on the 
Weight of the Atmosphere may not be out of place 
here. 

The mechanical properties of the atmosphere had 
engaged the attention of Galileo, who recognized its 
weight, but failed to discover that that weight, joined 
with its fluidity and elasticity, opposed a definite force 
to any agent by which the removal of the atmosphere 
from any space was attempted. This resistance had 
long been observed and was expressed, but not ex- 
plained by the term " nature's abhorrence of a vacu- 
um." Galileo, however, being aware of the fact that 
suction-pumps would not raise water more than about 
thirty feet high, expressed it by saying, that thirty-five 
feet was the limit of " nature's abhorrence of a vacu- 
um," since above that height a vacuum still remain- 
ed. Torricello, Galileo's pupil, gave this problem 
his careful attention. "He argued that if the weight 
of the atmosphere were the direct agent by which 
the column of water is sustained in a pump, the 
same agent must needs exert the same amount of 
force in sustaining a column of any other liquid, and 
therefore, that if a heavier liquid were used, the col- 
umn sustained would be less in height exactly in the 
same proportion as the weight of the liquid forming 
the column was greater. Mercury, the heaviest known 



PORT ROYAL. 63 

liquid, appeared the fittest for this purpose. The ex- 
periment was eminently successful. The weight, bulk 
for bulk, of mercury was fourteen times greater than 
that of water, and accordingly it was found that in- 
stead of a column of thirty-five feet being supported, 
the column was only thirty inches, the latter being 
exactly the fourteenth part of thirty-five feet."* 

Torricello's death prevented his pushing the inquiry 
further, but the particulars of it were communicated 
to Pascal, who at once applied himself to the discovery 
of some experimental test of a nature so unanswer- 
able as to set the question at rest forever, f" lie ar- 
gued, that if the weight of the incumbent atmosphere 
were the real agent which sustained the mercury in 
Torricello's tube, as it was inferred to be by that phil- 
osopher, anything which would diminish that weight 
ought to diminish in the same proportion the height 
of the mercurial column. To test this, he first con- 
ceived the idea of producing over the surface of the 
mercury in the cistern wherein the end of the tube 
was immersed, a partial vacuum, so as to diminish 
the pressure of the air upon it. But apprehending 
that this experiment would hardly be sufficiently glar- 
ing to overcome the prejudices of the scientific world, 
he proposed to carry the tube containing the mercurial 
column upwards in the atmosphere, so as gradually to 
leave more and more of the incumbent weight below 

* See Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia, article Pascal, 
f Ibid, page 193 



64 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

it, and to ascertain whether the diminntion of the col- 
umn would be equal to the weight of the air which 
it had surmounted. No sufficient height being attain- 
able in Paris, the experiment was conducted, under 
Pascal's direction, by his brother-in-law, M. Perier, at 
Clermont, on the Puy de Dome, a hill of considerable 
height near that place. The experiment was com- 
pletely successful. The mercurial column gradually 
fell until the tube arrived at the summit, and as grad- 
ually rose again in descending. Bigotry and preju- 
dice could not withstand the force of this, and the 
maxim of 'nature's abhorrence of a vacuum' was 
thenceforth expunged from the code of natural 
science. Pascal's invention and patience, and his 
admirable plan of verifying all his opinions by facts 
and actual experiments, entitle him to the highest 
praise. Yet the honor of his discovery was disputed, 
both by the Jesuits, who accused him of plagiarism 
from the Italians, and by Descartes, who declared that 
he had himself suggested the experiment, possibly in 
the very interview which Jaqueline narrates. But 
Pascal took no notice of either, and published the ac- 
count of his experiments without alluding to their 
attacks. He certainly deserves the credit of having 
pursued the hints of Torricello with hesitation and 
care, not attempting to build up a theory of his own, 
and deciding only when decision was self-evident. 



PORT ROYAL. 65 

Paris, September 25, 1C-17. 
My very Dear, Sister, 

I have deferred writing to you, because I wished to 
send a full account of my brother's interview with M. Des- 
cartes; and had not leisure yesterday to tell you that M. II I 
bert called here on Sunday evening, accompanied by M. de 
Montigny, ofBretagne, and as my brother was at church, the 
latter informed me thathis fellow ton neman and intimate friend, 
M. Descartes, had expressed a great wish to Bee my brother, 
on account of the high esteem in which he heard that my 
father and Blaise were both held; and bad requested him t" 
come and see if it would be inconvenient to my brother (whom 
he knew to be an invalid) to receive a visit from M. 1 »■ 
next morning at nine o'clock. When M. de Montigny made 
this proposal, I was puzzled what to say, knowing the diffi- 
culty which Blaise finds in exerting himself or talking, 
cially in the forenoon, and yet not thinking it right to decline 
the call. Finally, it was agreed that M. Descartes should 
delay coming until half-past ten, and accordingly he came at 
that hour, in company with M. Habert, M. de Montigny, a 
young ecclesiastic whom I do not know, M. de Montigny's 
son, and two or three other little boys. M. de Roberval, to 
whom my brother had sent word, was also there. After 
the usual civilities, the calculating machine* was mentioned, 
and being displayed by M. de Roberval, was very much ad- 
mired. They then began to discuss the theory of the Va- 
cuum, and M. Descartes, on being told of an experiment, and 
asked what he thought it was which expelled water from a 

* The calculating machine, invented by Blaise Pascal at the age of 
nineteen, was hailed by mathematicians as a most ingenious and won- 
derful invention, but it was very complex, costly, and easily deranged. 
It was completed only by intense application, not merely to the men- 
tal combinations requisite, but to the mechanical part of the execu- 
tion, for the stupidity of the workmen he employed was a constant 
source of vexation, and the tax upon his brain so increased his illness 
as to oblige him for a time to leave the machine unfinished. 



6Q JAQTJELDSTE PASCAL. 

syringe, replied with perfect seriousness that it was subtile 
matter ; to which my brother made what answer he could, 
and M. de Roberval, thinking that it hurt him to talk, began 
to aigue rather warmly, though not rudely, with M. Des- 
cartes. But the latter told him, somewhat sharply, that he 
was willing to talk with my brother as long as they liked, be- 
cause he spoke rationally, but not with him (M. de Roberval), 
for he was prejudiced. Then, perceiving by his watch that it 
was noon, and having an invitation to dine in the faubourg 
St. Germain, he took leave, and so did M. de Roberval, who 
rode back with M. Descartes in a carriage, where, being quite 
alone, they sang merry songs, and were rather wild ; that is, 
according to M. de Roberval's account, who returned after din- 
ner, and found M. d'Alibrai here. I had almost forgotten to 
add, that M. Descartes, sorry that he could only stay so short 
a time, promised my brother to come back the next morning 
at eight o'clock. M. d'Alibrai, hearing of this the evening 
before, wished to be present, and tried to bring M. Lepailleur, 
to whom my brother sent an invitation through him ; but he 
was too lazy to come, although M. d'Alibrai and he were 
both engaged to dine in our neighborhood. M. Descartes 
made this second call, partly on account of my brother's ill- 
ness, concerning which, however, he said but little, merely re- 
commending him to remain in bed every day as long as he could 
do so without weariness, and to take strong broths. They 
conversed on many other subjects, for he stayed until eleven, 
but I cannot tell you what they were, for I was not present, 
and could not inquire, having been very busy the rest of the 
day in superintending his first bath. He thought that it 
made his head ache, but the water's being too warm perhaps 
caused this. I think that having his feet bled on Sunday 
night did him good, for he was able to speak on Monday 
quite forcibly ; in the morning to M. Descartes, and in the af- 
ternoon to M. de Roberval, with whom he held a long argu- 
ment on many points of equal importance in theology and 



PORT ROYAL. 67 

physics, without any further inconvenience than a heavy right 
sweat, an<l but little Bleep, for he escaped the severe headache 
which I apprehended after such an effort. 

Tell M. Ausouit, that my brother wrote the other day to 
Father Mersenne, as he wished, iii order to inquire what ar- 
guments M. Descartes had brought forward against the column 
of air. The answer was very badly written, for the poor man 

has had the artery of his right arm cut, while being lei bl 1, 

and will perhaps be maimed for life. I found out, however, 
that it was not M. Descartes wh.. opposed the theory, (for on 
the contrary he believes it firmly, though on grounds which 
my brother disapproves,) but M. de RobervaL The letter also 
mentioned M. Descartes 1 wish to BOB my brother, and his in- 
strument as well, but of course we understand this as mere 
politeness. Tell M. Dumesnil, if you see him, that a person 
who is a mathematician no longer, and others who never have 
been, send their compliments to him, who has just become 
one. M. Ausoult will explain to you wdiat this message 
means : I have neither time nor patience. Farewell, my dear 
sister. 

J. Pascal. 

Superscribed To ^Mademoiselle Perier, at M. Pascal's house, 
Kings Counsellor, behind the walls of St. Ouen, Rouen. 

The preaching of M. Singlin in Paris was greatly 
frequented and discussed at this period. That ecclesi- 
astic was one of the pupils of M. de St. Cyran, the 
leader of the Jansenist party in France, and had suc- 
ceeded him as confessor and chaplain to the convent 

* The title of Madame was at this period confined to the nobil- 
ity. All untitled ladies were addressed as Mademoiselle, even after 
marriage. The Pascal family had been ennobled by Louis XL, as a 
reward for services rendered him, but hitherto had not availed them- 
selves of the privilege. 



68 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of Port-Eoyal. During their stay in Paris, Blaise and 
Jaqueline Pascal went frequently to hear him. " Find- 
ing," says Madame Perier, " that his ideas of a Chris- 
tian's life were in accordance with those she had 
formed since God first touched her heart, and consid- 
ering that he was the spiritual director of the House 
of Port Eoyal, my sister came to the conclusion that 
in that nunnery one might, to use her own expression, 
be wisely pious. She imparted her thoughts to my 
brother, who, far from dissuading, encouraged her, for 
he was imbued with similar views. His approbation 
so strengthened her, that thenceforth she never wa- 
vered in the design of devoting herself to God. 

" My brother, who loved her with especial tender- 
ness, was delighted with her project, and thought of 
nothing but how he should aid her to accomplish it. 
As neither he nor she had any acquaintance at Port 
Eoyal, he bethought himself of M. Guillebert, a mu- 
tual friend, and took Jaqueline to see him. This gen- 
tleman was so well satisfied with the interview, that 
he himself introduced her to the Abbess Angelique, 
who received her very kindly. From that time, my 
sister went to Port Eoyal as often as the great dis- 
tance of her dwelling would permit, and the Abbesses 
told her to place herself under the charge of M. Sing- 
lin, in order that he might judge if she were truly 
called to a cloistered life. She did not fail to obey, 
and from the very first time that M. Singlin saw her, 
he told my brother that he had never known so 



PORT ROYAL. by 

strongly-marked a vocation. This testimony was a 
great comfort to my brother, and it made him donbly 
anxious for the success of a design which he had 
every reason to believe was of God. All this oc- 
curred in the early part of the year 1G48, when my 
brother and sister were at Paris, and jny father at 
Eouen." 

Some account of the history and regulations of 
Port-Eoyal must here be given, in order to render 
Jaqueline's succeeding history intelligible. 

Port-Eoyal des Champs was a nunnery founded in 
crusading times, by Matilda, wife of Matthew de Marli, 
in the hope of ensuring her husband's safe return from 
the Holy Land. It stood in a pleasant valley on the road 
from Versailles to Chevreuse, about six leagues from 
Paris, and belonged to the Eeformed Cistercian branch 
of the Benedictine Order. The rule of that order, it 
is well known, was instituted by Benedict in the sixth 
century. While yet young, he had been distinguished 
by his endurance of the most fearful temptations in 
the desert of Subiaco, forty miles distant from Eome, 
and chancing to hear that a knot of Pagans still con- 
ducted their idolatrous worship on the summit of 
Monte Casino, in the immediate neighborhood of 
Eome, his spirit was stirred within him ; he at once 
hastened thither, and by dint of alternate preaching 
and persuading, succeeded in overthrowing the altar 
and converting its votaries. He then took up his 
abode on the scene of conquest, and there, the fame 



70 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of his piety soon attracting other devout men to the 
spot, the first Benedictine monastery was built, and 
the rule of St. Benedict promulgated. To the usual 
obligations of poverty, chastity, and obedience, it 
added two others, viz., manual labor for seven hours 
of each day, and perpetual vows. These, however, 
were to be preceded by a year's novitiate, during 
which the entire code was daily read over to the nov- 
ice, ending with the exhortation, "This is the rule 
under which thou art to live and strive for salvation ; 
if thou canst follow it, enter : — if not, go, thou art 
free !" But the vows, once taken, were irrevocable, 
and any infraction of them was severely punished. 
The sister of St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, who soon 
after retired with a few pious women to a solitude not 
far from Monte Casino, was usually revered as the first 
Benedictine nun. 

In the course of succeeding centuries, the Order of 
St. Benedict ramified into various branches. Among 
the most important was that of the Eeformed Cister- 
cians, so named from the Abbey of Citeaux, one of 
their earliest foundations. They revived the Bene- 
dictine rule in its primitive rigor, and insisted much 
on the necessity and advantages of silence, were es- 
pecially devoted to the worship of the Virgin, and 
wore white garments, white being her consecrated 
color. Their favorite saints were St. Augustine, St. 
Joseph and St. Bernard. St. Augustine, it will be 
recollected, was the child of many prayers, — the 



PORT ROYAL. 71 

champion of orthodoxy, and under his banners the 
Port Royalist defenders of the faith were afterwards 
ranged: — St. Bernard was a learned and devout 
theologian, the opponent of Abclard — the eloquent 
preacher of the second crusade. 

For a long period the convent of Port Royal grew 
in wealth and reputation, but towards the oloseof the 
16th century, the general relaxation of manners which 
pervaded the court of Henry the Fourth, found its 
way into the cloister. Benedictine rules and Cistercian 
commentaries were alike forgotten, the vow of seoltL- 
sion was tacitly disregarded, and the religious habit 
formed the chief, almost the only distinction bel 
its youthful wearers and the gay frequenters of the 
Louvre. Nor was this to be wondered at, since their 
ignorance of religion was deplorable, and that of their 
confessors scarcely less; sermons were almost un- 
known, the communion was only administered on fes- 
tival days, and a masquerade sometimes took its place. 
The old chronicles of Port Royal sum up the sad 
record of derelictions by stating that the nuns wore 
gloves, masks and starched linen, just like other ladies, 
and allowed their hair to peep out in most becoming 
fashion. 

"Very different was the state of things when Jaque- 
line Pascal first went to Port Royal. The sisterhood, 
once noted for unrestrained levity, had become a pat- 
tern of devotion, purity and self-denial, besides doing- 
much, both by prayer and effort, to reclaim the moral 



72 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

wastes of other convents, left by the long license of 
civil war in a condition even more disastrous and 
seemingly more hopeless than their own. This salu- 
tary reform was the work of a woman — the celebrated 
Mere Angelique. She belonged to the family of 
Arnauld, and her maternal grandfather, M. Marion, a 
distinguished advocate and a friend of Henry IY., ob- 
tained from that monarch the Abbey of Port Eoyal 
for Angelique, then only eight years old, and that of 
St. Cyr for her sister Agnes, who was but five. Forged 
certificates of the children's ages were sent to Eome, 
and a papal bull, confirming the nomination, soon in- 
stated the tiny Abbesses in their new dignities, while 
the king, on learning the truth, merely laughed to 
think how His Holiness had been tricked. Some 
years afterwards, when hunting in the neighborhood, 
he chanced to trespass on the abbatial grounds, the 
little Angelique, then about eleven, went forth to meet 
him. Crosier in hand, and followed by a long train of 
nuns, " she rebuked her sovereign with all the majesty 
of an infant Ambrose," and the king obeyed her 
mandate. This early triumph was but an earnest of 
others more lasting. 

The childhood of Angelique passed happily enough. 
She was much petted by the nuns, and enjoyed the 
advantage of a mother's watoiiful care. Madame 
Arnauld, although the mother of twenty children, felt 
it her duty to make frequent visits to the convent, and 
to look after its interests and welfare. This oversight 



PORT ROYAL. 73 

must have been no small addition to her many anxie- 
ties. The younj .'.rrew up tolerably si 
but did not scruple to engage in worldly amusements 
and excursions whenever she could, and much pre- 
ferred a novel to her Breviary. The childish ignor- 
ance which had led her to assume unl iy the 
irrevocable vows was now bitter] d, and she 
would have given worlds to cancel them. But in her 
seventeenth year she was startled from this state of 
feeling by the sermon of a Capuchin monk, who, in 
passing by Port Royal, obtained permission to | 
before the nuns. This man, Father Basil* by name, 
had left his own convent for the purpose of <: aposta- 
tizing in a foreign land," to use the words of Jansen- 
ist historians, who, however, own that "the miserable 
being spoke so forcibly on the blessedness of a holy 
life, and on the infinite love and humiliation of the 
Lord Jesus in his incarnation, as to produce a deep 
effect on the young Abbess." Thenceforward her 
resolution was taken to devote her whole life to 
God's service, and was only withheld from resigning 
the office to which conscience told her she had no 
right, by the hope of inducing a better mode of 
conduct and feeling in those who were under her 
charge. Accordingly, she was careful not to alarm 
them by any sudden measures, trusting rather to the 

* The fact vas that the Capuchin had become convinced of the 
errors of Romanian, and declared himself a Protestant soon after- 
wards. 

4 



74 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

silent influence of example and earnest prayer, and 
these, after a time succeeded. Her next step was to 
rebuild the Abbey-walls, and to exclude all visitors. 
To this her father and brothers, whom she made no 
exception to the rule, were vehemently opposed, and 
their reproaches gave Angelique such intense pain, 
that 'she swooned in the contest, which, however, ended 
triumphantly for her, and took away all hope of ad- 
mittance from less hallowed guests. "Within five years 
from the time of her conversion, all the austerities of 
St. Benedict's rule were re-established at Port Eoyal, 
while those who observed them were taught to con- 
sider every instance of self-denial or devotion as 
worthless, unless it arose from love to God. 

Angelique was extremely attached to her sister 
Agnes, and could not rest until she had inspired the 
latter with her own spirit of reform. Agnes, who 
was naturally sedate, soon yielded, and renouncing the 
Abbacy of St. Cyr, became a simple nun of Port 
Eoyal, where she was speedily distinguished by her 
progress in piety, and was appointed Mistress of the 
Novices during her own novitiate. She was the au- 
thoress of several devotional works, among them of 
" The Portrait of a Perfect and an Imperfect Nun," a 
book displaying so much spiritual acumen, that if en- 
titled " The Portrait of a Consistent and a Half-hearted 
Christian," it would not be unworthy of a place beside 
the soul-searching treatises of her Puritan contempora- 
ries. It draws a vivid picture of the blessedness felt 



PORT ROYAL. 75 

by those who devote themselves entirely to God, and 
consecrate every thought and faculty to His service, as 
well as of the misery and evil consequent upon serving 
Him with a divided mind. 

In consequence of her fame as a Reformer, Angel- 
ique was appointed to the management of other i 
ious houses, whose inmates were so utterly refractory 
and even vicious, that it needed all the power of ber 
mingled strength and purity — that rare union, which 
has been said to constitute the " nature of angels" — 
and all the lowly, winning kindness of companions 
whom she had trained into like-mindedness with her- 
self, to gain the mastery over their stubborn hearts. 
Yery beautiful are the instances of evil overcome with 
good — of patience silently but surely fulfilling her 
perfect work — recorded by Angelique's biographers ; 
yet as most of these occurred before Jaqueline Pas- 
cal's birth, more light may be thrown on her character 
and history by leaving them untold, and stating in 
their stead some of the observances which the ladies 
of Port Royal were bound to fulfil. 

*St. Frangois de Sales, the Bishop of Geneva, and 
his disciple, Mad. de Chantal, foundress of the Order 
of the Yisitation, and grandmother of Mad. de Sevigne, 

* A saying of this prelate is quoted in the Memoirs of Halyburton, 
the Scotch saiut and scholar, " That as a man, covered with vermin, 
instead of vaiuly attempting to detach them one by one, plunges into 
a bath, and rises thence refreshed and clean, so the believer, when dis- 
couraged by the sense of his own exceeding sinfulness, should at once 
have recourse to his Saviour, remembering that ' the blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth from all sin.' " 



76 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

were among Angelique's most intimate friends, and 
materially aided in the development of her Christian 
character. One of his letters thus exhorts her not to 
be weary in well-doing : " O my daughter, do not 
imagine that the work of your sanctification will be 
an easy one. Cherry-trees bear fruit soon after they 
are planted, but that fruit is small and perishable, 
while the palm, the prince of trees, requires, it is said, 
a hundred years before it is mature enough to bring 
forth dates. A lukewarm degree of piety may be ac- 
quired in a year, but the perfection to which we aspire, 
oh, my dear daughter, must be the growth of long 
and weary years." 

Under Angelique's government, the number of nuns 
and novices greatly increased. The want of funds 
never made her hesitate in admitting any of whose 
vocation she was assured, neither was her confidence 
in God's good providence ever disapjDointed. But the 
lack of accommodation for so many persons, together 
with the danrpness of the marshes around Port Eoyal, 
which was very injurious to health, induced Mad. Ar- 
nauld to purchase a large house in the Faubourg St. 
Jacques, Paris, and fit it up as a convent. Thither 
her daughter and the community removed in 1626 ; 
and soon afterwards Angelique, who had always felt 
that the fraud practised in order to secure her nomi- 
nation rendered it null and void in the sight of God, 
obtained permission to resign, and succeeded in mak- 
ing the office of Abbess elective and triennial. 



PORT ROYAL. 77 

About 1631, the Duke de Longueville's first wife, 
wishing to found a nunnery in honor of the Holy 
Sacrament, selected Mere Angelique as its Abbess. 
Two prelates, the Archbishop of Sens and the Bishop 
of Langres, took charge of the Institution, but did not 
long agree concerning its management. They quar- 
relled over a little book of devotion written by Mere 
Agnes for the use of the new sisterhood, called " Le 
chapelet secret du Saint Sacrement," which was acci- 
l!y made public and excited much discussion. 
An appeal to Rome was the result. The Pope, with- 
out censuring the work, suppressed it for the sake of 
peace. Among its defenders, however, had been M. 
de St. Cyran,* a man of eminent holiness, at the head 
of what was afterwards termed the Jansenist party in 
France, and this fact, which led to his more intimate 
acquaintance with Angelique, had the most beneficial 
effect on her whole after-life. In many respects they 
were alike, both being unfeignedly humble and self- 
denying, reverent and sincere ; but St. Cyran knew 
more of the glorious truths, of the Gospel, and while 
deeply conscious of personal unworthiness, had also 
learned that in the Lord Jesus there was righteousness 



* It "was in reference to this ecclesiastic, then confined in the don- 
jon of Vincennes, by order of Cardinal Richelieu, that the German 
General, Jean de Werth, while on a visit to Paris, and present at a 
magnificent ballet composed by Richelieu himself, -where a Bishop 
did the honors of his reception, remarked* " That of all the sights he 
had beheld in France, nothing astonished him so much as to see 
bishops at a play-house and saints in prison." 



78 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

and strength more than sufficient to cancel every sin, 
and to give support in every need. Angelique could 
not associate with a man of such ardent piety, and 
not reflect something of its glow. Under his guid- 
ance, all her good impressions were deepened, and she 
learned that "looking unto Jesus" is the great secret 
of religious progress as well as hope. Not, however, 
that either teacher or pupil received the uselessness and 
inconsistency of those superstitious rites with which 
man's wisdom had deformed, while pretending to de- 
corate the fair foundations of their faith. They could 
rest their own hope of salvation on the merits of 
Christ, and Christ alone ;— they could not separate 
His teachings from those of the false Church which 
they believed to be His true representative, nor aban- 
don the "voluntary humility and worshipping . of 
angels" enjoined by her, though denounced by an 
apostle. Towards the close of Jaqueline Pascal's 
"Begulations for Children," which in their rigid 
purity seem like a polished shield, so constructed as 
to ward off from the wearer every possible form of 
evil, except its own weight, it is painful to find the 
before-unspotted lustre marred with the rust of mariol- 
atry and saint-worship. After defining prayer in one 
sentence as " the turning to God in every need, and 
especially in seasons of weakness and temptations," 
and adding that " a single glance lifted to Him in faith, 
humility, and constancy, will do more to sustain us 
than the strongest resolutions, which are useless, un- 



PORT ROYAL. 70 

less God writes them on the heart by 1 , -1 &c., 

us incredible that on the next page she should 
proceed to recommend frequent addresses to the Vir- 
gin, St. Benedict, and the other patron-saints of the 
convent. 

*"It maybe asked," says Tregelles, "How could 
men possessed of so much light as Jansenius, St. 
Oyran, and their many followers, live and die in ac- 
knowledged fellowship with the Church of Rome? 
To explain this strange inconsistency, we may n 
Martin Luther. He had learned the gospel of Christ, 
but it was the actings of Rome against him that 
taught him the depth of evil which is found in the 
Romish system. Thus, in his earlier preaching, it is 
said of him by Melancthon, ' He explained that sin is 
freely pardoned on account of God's son, and that 
man receives this blessing through faith. He in no 
way interfered with the usual ceremonies. The estab- 
lished discipline had not in all his order a more faithful 
observer and defender. But he labored more to make 
all understand the grand and essential doctrines of 
conversion, of the forgiveness of sins, of faith, and of 
the true consolations of the cross.' This may explain 
an inconsistency, which in itself can never be defended. 
The accusation of Protestantism was in after-years one 
great hindrance to the Jansenists in looking simply 
to revealed truth." 

* The Jansenists, a chapter in Church History, by S. P. Tre- 
gelles. 



80 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

The later persecutions of Port Eoyal did mucli to 
emancipate its adherents from their slavish subjection 
to the tyranny of Borne. The flail of persecution 
performed its old office of parting the chaff from the 
wheat, and this may be one reason why God in infinite 
wisdom permitted it to fall so heavily. Mysterious as 
the complete crushing of the Port Eoyalists under the 
might of Jesuit hatred appears, it was ruone the less a 
fulfilment of prophecy. They would not obey the 
command, " Come out of her, my people, lest ye be 
partakers of her plagues," and Eome was suffered to 
drive them from her bosom by injustice and oppression, 
although in so doing she identified herself with Jesu- 
itism — the worst and most repelling phase of Eoman- 
ism, and compelled its unhappy victims to take a stand 
apart from her. What, for instance, can be more 
beautiful than the reply of the captive nun, Gertrude 
de Yalois, to the bishop who told her, that unless she 
consented to sign the formulary against Jansenism, 
she should be deprived of the last sacraments, and 
her body should be thrown on a dunghill? "I 
do not think your lordship will be able to discover 
any place to cast my body where my Saviour cannot 
find and raise it up at the last day." And the modern 
Jansenists of Holland, a pious, though not a numerous 
body, still contend, as did their predecessors, that the 
condemnation of Quesnel in the notorious bull Uni- 
genitus was unjust, — that the authority of a general 
council is superior to that of the Pope; — and that 



PORT ROYAL. 81 

could an honest council be convened, it would un- 
ci uestionably reverse the papal decision in regard to 
Quesnel's work. Thus, their union with Rome is 
virtually severed, although whenever theyelecl a new 
bishop or archbishop, notice of the fact is regularly 
sent to Rome, and the approval of the Holy S< 
manded, which as regularly returns the compliment by 
a decree of excommunication issued against them as 
schismatics. The notification is of course a mere 
matter of form, and like the Spanish hidalgo, who 
places house and properly at the 

the Jansenists would be greatly astonished were the 
offer accepted. But Rome has not the grace to imitate 
their courtesy ; she, on the contrary, denies that they 
have the right to own a house at all without a lease 
from her, and her answer to their invitation is a notice 
to quit.* 

To resume the history of Angelique and Port 
Royal. The want of a sufficient endowment and 
the death of Mad. de Longueville, caused her scheme 
to be abandoned. The nuns of the Holy Sacrament 
returned to their old home in Port Royal, and the 
Abbess took her place among the lowest of the lowly, 
as if she had never known what it was to command. 
In 1642 she was re-elected, and continued at the head 



* This interchange of civilities and rebuffs having lasted for a cen- 
tury and a half, has lately been stopped by the Pope's appointment 
of a Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, whose claim, however, -was ob- 
stinately resisted by the heretics of Holland. 
4* 



82 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of the convent for the next twelve years, aided by her 
sister Agnes, both being regarded with the most en- 
thusiastic affection by the nuns, and exercising all the 
influence and talents bestowed upon them with a single 
eye to God's glory. 

In 1646 Mere Angelique undertook the building of 
the Church of Port Eoyal de Paris. Before its com- 
mencement, she and her nuns offered up prayers for 
the space of one entire year, that God would be pleased 
to manifest His will concerning it. This was in ac- 
cordance with one of M. de St. Cyran's maxims, 
"Never to undertake anything of importance without 
first presenting it one hundred times to God in prayer, 
because of the slowness with which His vast designs 
are ordinarily evolved." The way of duty, then, 
seemed plain before her, and after the church was 
finished, she obtained permission to incorporate the 
two institutions of Port Eoyal and the Holy Sacra- 
ment into one. The changes necessary were few and 
unimportant, some additional prayers had to be daily 
offered, and the black scapulary (a garment worn over 
the shoulders by monks and nuns, hanging down before 
and behind, emblematic of the yoke of Christ,) usual 
in Cistercian houses, was exchanged for a white one, 
having a large scarlet cross upon the breast, to signify 
the two colors of bread and wine. This habit was as- 
sumed in 1647, and the convent ever afterwards bore 
the name of Port Eoyal du Saint Sacrement. 

Before the death of M. de Saint Cyran, which oc- 



PORT ROYAL. 83 

currcd eight months after that of Cardinal Richelieu 
ia 1643 had relea led him from prison, he had per- 
suaded Angelique that it was hardly right to have 
allowed the consideration of bodily health to occasion 
the complete removal of the community from a place 
so well calculated for holy meditation and perfect iso- 
lation from the world as was Port Royal des Champs. 
Thither, accordingly, in 1648 she returned with a 
dozen or more nuns, and was welcomed back by the 
tears and blessings of the poor whom her charity had 
formerly succored. The deserted convent had during 
her absence been occupied by a company of recluses, 
disciples of M. de' St. Cyran, but they gladly retired to 
a farm in the vicinity, and her admirable powers of 
methodical arrangement soon placed the affairs of the 
house on a better footing than before her departure. 
Both this convent and that of Paris had the same in- 
ternal laws, and received the same instructions, the 
latter, however, being the larger took the lead, and 
the inmates of both made their profession there. 

It now only remains to give some idea of the Con- 
stitutions of Port Royal, which, about 1648, were for 
the first time embodied and printed. The body of the 
work was written hy Mere Agnes, and as the volume 
itself is now very rare, a slight sketch of its require- 
ments will show the nature of that " rational piety" 
which so fascinated Jaqueline Pascal. These rules, it 
is stated in the preface, were no ideal picture of unat' 



84 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

tain able virtues, but the actual result of many years' 
experience and practice. 

The Convent was placed under the jurisdiction of the Arch- 
bishop of Paris, and lie had the privilege of appointing a 
Superior, whose office was to visit it from time to time, exam- 
ine into its condition, and aid the Abbess in enforcing the 
laws. These visitations were always preceded and closed by 
the prayers of the sisterhood for the divine blessing ; and on 
his arrival, they were all assembled at the grating of the 
church, that he might greet and bless them. He then gave 
private audience to every nun, beginning and ending with the 
Abbess ; and each was bound to inform him of her own fail- 
ures in duty, and in a meek and kindly spirit, of anything 
that might be amiss in the Convent. In listening to these 
complaints, great discretion and discernment were of course 
needed on his part, Having taken the keys from the Abbess, 
he next passed into the interior and made a tour of inspection 
through its various apartments. Then came a general assem- 
bly or chapter, in which he exhorted or commended his hear- 
ers, as the case might require, and a solemn service in the 
church closed the whole. The particulars were then recorded 
for future reference, but no remarks were aver allowed on 
what had taken place during the visit. 

The Confessors of the Nuns were selected with great caution, 
and attended to them weekly. Each sister had the privilege 
of demanding what confessor she chose, subject to the ap- 
proval of the Abbess and Archbishop, but this was seldom 
done. All who wished to confess were exhorted to a rigid 
self-examination, and deep repentance, and told to judge of 
their guilt less by its outward appearance than by the state 
of heart that prompted the transgression, remembering that 
neither confession nor absolution could avail them, unless 
their secret sins were sincerely hated, searched out, and for- 
saken. 



PORT ROYAL. 85 

Tho choice of an A.bbess, which, after A.ng61ique'a 
nation, occurred every three years, wa^ always preceded by ;i 
long season of supplication for aright. The 

office was looked upon as far from desirable on account of the 
weighty responsibilities attached to it, and indeed, it was the 
custom of the Nuns to shrink from every distinction, unfeign- 
edly preferring the lowesl place, and only accepting a higher 
with the deepest humility and self-distrust. They were taught 
botli by example and precept, that - a constant fidelity in little 
things forms the true grandeur and solidity of the Christian 
character;"* that "as to its effects, the perfection of saints 
on earth is perhaps more perceptible in what theyrfo not than 
in what they tfo;"f and therefore, there was among them 
comparatively little of thai striving after power, whi 
quote the words of a modern thinker, will make "man] , 
astonished, when they get to Heaven to find the angels laying 
no schemes to he made archangels."J The Novices and lay- 
sisters who had no vote, spent the time of the election in 
prayer; — the professed Nuns gave their votes in writing, and 
the person chosen never knew who voted for her, nor by what 
majority she was elected. " JNo Abbess," say the Constitutions, 
"has any reason to hope that her election is of God, unless 
she sincerely desires to take the \<>: and to escape 

the highest, knowing that no situation is so exposed to perils 
and evils, as that of one who has to conduct others, unless 
God himself beJier guide. She must distinguish herself by 
an excess of charity rather than by authority, and veil her 
power with all a mother's tenderness, excusing the faults of 
others as much as possible, strengthening-the weak, and bearing 
long and patiently what is amiss ere she corrects it. Is her 
disposition naturally mild ? let her strive to acquire force of 
character ? Is it energetic \ let her temper it with gentleness. 
She must neither flatter nor accept flattery, hut use her au- 
thority in moderation ; teach less by word than by example ; 

* M. de St. Cyran. f Ibid. % Guesses at Truth. 



86 JAQTJELINE PASCAL. 

and serve her companions in every office of charity with a 
zeal proportioned to the height of her position, remembering 
our Saviour's words, " Whosoever is chief among you, let him 
be the servant of all." It was, moreover, her duty to provide 
preachers for all suitable occasions ; to watch over the bodily 
welfare of her charge; to allow slight indulgences to the in- 
firm ; and forbid the practice of austerities that might be inju- 
rious, while the sisters were bound to yield an unmurmuring 
obedience to her behests, and to aid her with their sympathies 
and prayers. Her personal accommodations were not at all 
superior to theirs ; she had a cell in the common dormitory, 
without either fire or attendance, except in case of extreme 
age or infirmity. She was also required to avoid mingling 
with worklljs. society; to .seek strength for her onerous duties 
by constant intercourse with Heaven ; and to possess a greater 
love for solitude and silence than was usual even in that silent 
convent, which sought to rival the old monastery of Clairvaux, 
where, in St. Bernard's time, the only sounds to be heard by 
day or night were the clatter of monkish tools and the voice 
of psalms. 

Next in rank to the Abbess came the Prioress, chosen by 
her to fill her post during absence ; to arrange the nuns' du- 
ties, and inspect their performance ; to watch over the Abbess's 
health, and relieve her from all unnecessary care. Various 
inferior offices were filled by other sisters. One had charge 
of the Refectory, another of the Wardrobe, a third of provi- 
sions, &c. ; but there is no need of enumerating the duties of 
any except the Sub-prioress and Mistress of the Novices, both 
of which posts were afterwards filled by Jaqueline Pascal 
during part of her stay at Port Royal. 

The Sub-prioress assumed the duties of the Prioress in the 
hitter's absence, but was not allowed to use the same freedom 
in reproving faults, her business being to note what was wrong, 
and report it on the Abbess's return, not in any spirit of sus- 
picion or exaggeration, but in a truthful and loving manner. 



PORT ROYAL. 87 

She had also t<> visit the dormitories at night, to put out tie 
lights, and ascertain that every sister was safe in her own 
(sell. 

The responsibility of the Mistress of the Novices was much 
greater. She took cMr^c of the Bisters of the white veil for 
three years after their entrance ; taughl them what outward 
observances were enjoined, and frequently explained to them 
the solemn nature of their obligations, and the need of con- 
tinued prayer and effort, if they desired to grow in grace, 
striving to imbue them with a delight in silent communion 

With God, and a true submission to His holy will. 

Great discrimination was exercised in the reception of in- 
mates. 'I'ln' sisters were strictly forbidden all attempts at at- 
tracting persons of wealth or distinction ; and if any such pre- 
sented themselves, they were admitted with reluctance, and 
only on exhibiting the mosl decided marks of piety. Only a 
moderate pension was ever accepted, no matter how rich the 
candidate might be, and she was advised to distribute ;i 
of her possessions among the poor, selecting her beneficiaries 
according to the counsel of some competent persons uncon- 
nected with Tort Royal. In case of poverty, there was Beldom 
any difficulty to be encountered.* Bodily weakness formed 
no disqualification, only the preliminary probation was made 
more severe, because it was deemed that greater piety was 
necessary in order to support patiently long hours of solitude 
or sickness in an infirmary, than to join in the social worship 
or active pursuits of the community. Xovices were admitted 
by vote of the nuns. They were not to be fed with milk and 
honey, by being humored and treated gently, but with the 

* The Abbess Angelique once admitted two sisters as candidates 
for the veil. One was penniless, the other possessed a thousand 
crowns, her godmother's legacy. After a time, the vocation of the 
heiress seemed a true one, but her sister's failed. Angelique sent the 
latter away, after presenting her with the thousand crowns that had 
belonged to the other, whom she admitted into the commuuity with 
out any dowry at all. 



88 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

strong meat of self-denial and liumiliatiops. For instance, 
one of Angelique's own sisters, Anne Eugenie by name, a 
young lady of very refined and fastidious tastes, was ordered 
to clean out the poultry-yard and wash dishes in the kitchen. 
One of her former friends, an ecclesiftic named Pere Suf- 
frant, called to see her, and as his time was limited, she has- 
tened to the grate in her working-dress, with a large apron, 
and a knife hanging from her girdle. He remarked that he 
had never seen her so well-dressed, and asked if she had quite 
given up the use of pomatum for her hands, referring to her 
old fondness for such articles of luxury. She answered, 
laughing, that the hot dish-water did quite as well, and she 
needed nothing better. 

Another novice was sent to occupy a cell supposed to be 
furnished, but which really contained only a few bundles of 
faggots. Presuming that she was to have no other couch, 
and not daring to complain, the poor girl wrapped herself in 
her mantle, and lay on the faggots for many nights, until the 
mistake was accidentally discovered and remedied. 

The sisters were never allowed to receive presents, either for 
themselves or the Church, nor to ask for aid on any pretext 
whatever, under penalty of excommunication. But if, as 
sometimes happened, their lavish charities left them in actual 
want of the necessaries of life, the Abbess might, after a sea- 
son of patience and privation, mention the fact to some confi- 
dential friend, and accept what was required for the passing 
emergency, but nothing further. Their legal difficulties were 
few, since -the renunciation of every superfluity, and the sturdy 
independence which led them to refuse large endowments, cut 
the roots of lawsuits, while it was their maxim to bear much 
injustice rather than seek for judicial redress. Yet, in ex- 
treme cases, after every measure of conciliation had been 
tried, they were not forbidden to defend the rights of the con- 
vent. Every effort was made to destroy the esteem of secu- 
lar advantages, and to teach the nuns to love poverty, because 



PORT ROYAL. 89 

Jesus Christ was poor. " My daughters," often Baid Angel- 
ique, " we have taken a voir of poverty, bul we can" hardly 
call ourselves poor, when so main kind friends are always 
ready to share with us their abundance." The exquisite deli- 
cacy and disinterestedness which marked all the pecuniary 
transactions of the convent, are beautifully displayed inJaque- 
line Pascal's Narrative of the trials preceding her own pro- 
fession. 

The "Constitutions" provide in the first place, for the per- 
petual adoration of the Holy Sacrament, a term which, though 
startling to Protestant ears, was less formidable in reality than 
in name. It signified that everynun was required to spend * 
portion of the day in silent prayer before the high altar of 
the church, and to wail there until relieved by one of her 
companions. They had qo sel form of prayer for the occa- 
sion, but were to invoke- the special aid of the Holy Spirit to 
bring their wishes into accordance with God's will, and not 
dwelling on their own personal wants or sins, were to 
self, and plead earnestly for the good of the Church univer- 
sal, and the extension of Christ's kingdom. 

They were taught to hope, that by thus endeavoring to im- 
itate the angels who rest not day nor night from God's ser- 
vice, and expelling as far as they could all earthly inl 
from the heart, Christ would till it with the precious balm of 
His grace, and perfume their poor prayers with the much in- 
cense of His own merits. The remembrance of this hallowed 
hour was also to accompany them through the rest of the day. 
Their motto was to be, "I sleep, but my heart waketh," mean- 
ing that no occupation ought to distract their minds from 
continued prayer and communion with Jesus. 

They observed the routine of fasts, festivals, and observ- 
ances common to all Romanists, and were allowed opportu- 
nities of private devotion besides, being often reminded of St. 
Bernard's saying, that "true prayer is not a human, but a 
celestial gift, the fruit of the Holy Spirit praying in us and 



90 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

with us." With these views of prayer, need it be added that 
the Holy Scriptures were highly prized. The Bible was daily 
read aloud, and the nuns were advised to learn portions of it 
by heart. "Let them try to fill the treasury of their minds 
with God's word, which is more desirable than gold or pre- 
cious stones, so will the languishing flame, of devotion in their 
souls be quickened by contact with that divine truth, for the 
word of the Lord is full of fire." 

Strict silence was enjoined on them for many hours of each 
day, except in case of absolute necessity, and even then the 
use of signs was recommended. The Abbess Agnes was once 
summoned from the Refectory, where all the sisters were as- 
sembled, to learn the fact of Cardinal Richelieu's death, and 
M. de St. Cyran's release from prison. It was an hour of silence, 
and she felt equally unwilling to infringe the rule or withhold 
the tidings. In this strait, she bethought herself of taking 
off her girdle and rending it in twain ; the emblem of recov- 
ered freedom was at once understood, and every face in the 
assembly grew radiant, though every tongue was mute. 

The nuns were allowed an hour every day in which to make 
confession of losses or accidents, to own slight failures in duty, 
and receive directions for the morrow. This was followed by 
an hour of conference, frequently spent in the open air, and 
each sister was then permitted to speak freely, provided she 
did so with discretion and grave politeness, as well as care not 
to interrupt others, or put herself unduly forward. But no 
approaches to mirth or raillery were for a moment tolerated. 
St. Benedict's rule never allowed the bow of thought to be 
unbent ; all play of wit, all lively speech, was reckoned sin- 
ful, and the souls consecrated to God were bidden to seek re- 
creation in discussing topics of a serious nature, not likely to 
undermine* their religious gravity and strength. The nuns of 
Port Royal usually spent their conference hour in speaking 
of texts of Scripture, or questions of conscience ; — they never 
referred to their own personal feelings, views, or temptations, 



TORT ROYAL. 91 

lost the sympathy of others should induce a craving for hu 
man praise. 

During Angelique's life, she was often consulted in regard 
to the meaning of Scripture, and hei remarks being both in- 
teresting and original, some of the nuns undertook, at the sug- 
gestion of her nephew Lemaitre, to write them down, and af- 
ter her death they were published. Had she known what 
was going forward, she would probably have declined .-peak- 
ing at all; for her dislike of notoriety was Btrong and real. 
When on her death-bed, she noticed a nun taking down Borne 
of her observations, and hade her burn the paper. She was 
reminded that the dying words of Madame Buireau dea \ 
a former Abbess, had been made very useful to survivors. 

"Ah," said she, "that dear Mere was very humble and wry 
simple minded — hut I am neither." 

Industry was a positive duty, each aister being expected t > 
perform a certain amount of work daily, the more humiliat- 
ing the better, and to love her task, because the Saviour 
stooped to practice a lowly trade, and so did His apostles. 
They made their own habits and shoes, as well as linen and 
ornaments for the church, which, however, were remarkable 
for simplicity of form and material, and the wafers and wax 
randies. Book-binding was also one of their occupations, and 
they made lanterns, candlesticks, and other useful article- ,.f 
tin, but neither embroideries nor artificial flowers were ever 
introduced. When at work, they were to be silent and med- 
itative ; the example of a certain sister Isabelle Agnes de 
Chateau-Neuf being often quoted, who passed an entire Lent 
in the kitchen, where all the sisters w r ere continually coming 
and going, -without speaking a single word. The stewardess 
took charge of every article as it was finished, and afterwards 
distributed wdiat was wanted in the various cells. 

Many of the nuns were occupied in the education of chil- 
dren. Only twelve, however, were admitted into the classes 
under the age of ten, lest the incessant care required by very 



92 



JAQUELINE PASCAL. 



young children, should distract the attention of their teachers 
from other duties. Little orphans were gladly welcomed, and 
treated with especial tenderness, and the sisters were taught 
that it was their duty to bear with meek patience the fatigue 
and anxiety inseparable from the oversight of the young, out 
of love to that Saviour who for their sakes became a child. 

Those possessing good voices were carefully trained to sing 
in the choir, under the direction of a leader, who had to strain 
every nerve to prevent the possibility of a mistake or failure 
in the worship of the sanctuary ; yet was not to assume un- 
due authority, or permit her own voice to be heard above the 
others, unless in attempting to supply a deficiency in their 
performance. The nuns were exhorted to subdue all vain com- 
placency in their musical knowledge, or in the sweet accord 
of their voices, and to desire only the perfection of God's ser- 
vice, and the edification of His worshippers. In case of cold 
or other illness, the singers, were excused, and the infirm were 
allowed to keep their seats, since " although an irregularity 
of posture offends the eye, it edifies tbe mind, by teaching 
that Christian unity consists less in outward uniformity than 
in a spirit of kindness and consideration for the weak." 

Each nun had her own cell, where, when not otherwise en- 
gaged, she passed her time in reading, Avork, or prayer, but to 
enter the cell of another, unless by permission of the Abbess, 
was strictly forbidden. Their food was simple, but sufficient 
in quantity ; they were neither encouraged in extraordinary 
fastings, nor in finding fault with the viands set before them, 
which were served on earthenware, with pitchers and mugs 
of brown stone, and wooden spoons. One of the nuns read 
aloud from some devotional work during the repast. 

Their clothes, though marked with their own names, were 
not kept under their own care, and were made of very 
coarse materials. Friends were allowed to make occasional 
visits, but the nuns might not testify any anxiety to receive 
them, nor any curiosity in regard to secular affairs, neither 



PORT ROYAL. 93 

c.hiU they reveal what was going forward in the convent; to 
prevent which, another sister always accompanied them to the 
parlor,and heard whal passed during the interview, bul never 
made any comment, unless something very wrong called for 
the Abbess's interference. Letters were rarely written, and 
never sent without inspection; nor were they ever very affec- 
tionate, the best mode of expressing love being held t" con- 
sist in constant prayer for its object. 

Their faults were divided into four classes. The first would 
now-a-days hardly be deemed faults at all, such as, words 
spoken at random, hasty answers, momentary impatience, 
trivial curiosity, the non-improvement of time, giving way to 
sudden laughter, talking in too loud a tone, or making a noise 
so as to disturb others. The usual penance consisted in the 
offender's asking pardon on her knees. The Abbess Ang61- 
ique was once asked in conference, if she remembered passing 
through the Dormitory late at night, when one of the nuns, 
not knowing who it was, called out, " What can you be think- 
ing of, my sister, to make such a noise?" on which the Abbess 
promptly knelt down and begged forgiveness, while the poor 
nun, startled at the discovery, had not sufficient presence of 
mind to excuse herself for the mistake. The Abbess replied 
that she had forgotten the circumstance, but no excuse was 
needed, since she had merely done her duty. 

Faults of the second degree consisted in, coming late to di- 
vine service, or behaving with irreverence when there, speak- 
ing rudely, thoughtlessly, or unkindly to others, showing an- 
ger in harsh or hasty speeeh, bearing malice for an offence, or 
deliberately breaking the law of silence, &c. They were pun- 
ished by the offender's eating off the ground, repeating pray- 
ers with her arms crossed or stretched out, wearing a bandage 
over the eyes, kissing the sisters' feet, &c. 

Grave faults, or those of the third degree, comprehended all 
violations of the rule of obedience, especially if persisted in ; 
all murmuring, or rude speeches made to the superior, also 



94 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

the manifesting aversion to another sister, or criticising her im- 
perfections in a contemptuous spirit. To raise false reports, to 
hide from the Abbess what she ought to know, to remain too 
long in the parlor, to invite the visits of secular persons, or 
write letters without permission, to speak so low to a visitor 
that the sister present could not hear what was said, to show 
a distaste for religious exercises before persons of the world, 
and to cherish a spirit of worldliness, levity, and mockery, 
were all grave faults, which the Abbess was to repress as best 
she might, and to punish when necessary. If deliberately 
persisted in, or if the guilty person proceeded to beat or abuse 
her companions, and to break her solemn vows, " which," say 
the Constitutions, " may God forbid," she was then to be separ- 
ated from the rest of the community, and the degree of her 
punishment left to the discretion of the Abbess and Superior, 
who might not restore her to favor until fully satisfied of her 
repentance and amendment. 

Great care was taken of the sisters in case of sickness, the 
office of nurse being eagerly coveted, and every reasonable in- 
dulgence allowed to the patients, who nevertheless were not 
encouraged to be fretful or talkative, but exhorted to endure 
with patience the will of God, aud seek by silence and sub- 
mission to increase their spiritual vigor, according to the pro- 
mise, "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." 
They remained in the Infirmary till convalescent, and were 
not suffered to recommence their duties until their former 
strength was fully regained. 

Every religious consolation was granted to the dying, the 
entire sisterhood were always summoned to witness a death, 
and if the confessors were absent, it became the Abbess's duty 
to recite the last prayers and soothe the departing sjfirit. De- 
ceased nuns were buried in the cemetery with great simpli- 
city, and a short sketch of their lives was inserted in the 
monthly Necrology of Port Royal. 



POET ROYAL. 95 

The body of the Constitutions closes as follows : 

Let not the nuns build any confidence on their daily ob- 
servances and good works, but let them hope in God and in 
our Lord Jesus Christ; and whatever be the good they have 
effected or the progerss they have made in religious perfection, 
let them feel with St. Benedict that these things are but a 
commencement, and cry with the Psalmist, u 1 have 
Thee with my whole heart, O let mo not wander from Thy 
commandments." Let them work out their salvation with 

fear and trembling, knowing that unless their g 1 works, 

however numerous, be prompted by true faith in God, and 
they are clothed with humility, they cannot hope for security 
against their great enemy, who, being himself proud, has es- 
pecial power over the children of pride, so that in imagining 
themselves to have succeeded in defeating him, they do but 
prove him to have won a more subtle and dangerous victory 
over them. And since the life of believers upon earth is one 
long warfare and tribulation, let them continually remember 
the advice of St. Bernard, " Never to distrust the mercy of 
God, but to hope all things from the grace of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom we are delivered from the bondage of sin." 
Let them seek to be thus delivered with deep humility, con- 
tinual sighing, and many tears, feeling that no attendance 
upon the means of grace will be of any avail unless God 
looks down and blesses them. " For if the Lord keep not the 
city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Therefore, let us 
look unto Him until He compassionate us." 

Yet, as the husbandman is not satisfied with a bare ac- 
knowledgment that without the influence of sun and dew his 
toil must be fruitless, but labors and digs the earth according 
to God's command, that it may be ready to receive a blessing 
from above, so is it comparatively easy to confess that human 
efforts are feeble and futile without God's help. We ought, 
while owning that neither he that planteth nor he that water- 



96 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

etli is anything, to be also diligent in prayer, and in the ac- 
tive use of all those means which God and His saints have in- 
dicated for our assistance, remembering St. Augustine's words, 
« We should strive to subdue our corruptions by constant ef- 
fort and earnest prayer, yet maintaining at the same time a 
conviction that prayers and efforts are alike worthless, unless 
inspired by God's grace." Thus, never trusting in ourselves, 
and always lifting up our hearts to God, we shall render unto 
Him, our Sovereign Master, perpetual thanksgivings, and when 
we glory, glory in Him alone. 

Let the sisters, therefore, evermore pray for an increase of 
faith, so that in temptation, which is an inward persecution, 
they may remain firmly bound unto the Lord their God, and 
give no heed to the suggestions of the adversary. For if they 
resolutely hold to the obedience of faith, if the remembrance 
of God's great goodness to them in the gift of a Redeemer, 
and a sense of the vileness and nothingness of things tempo- 
ral, compared with the hope that is laid up for us in Heaven, 
be impressed on their minds by a lively yet humble faith, they 
will easily repulse the allurements of their great enemy, and 
quench in the flames of that living faith the fiery darts with 
which he would fain destroy them. God in His mercy grant 
it, through the merits of Jesus Christ, and. the help of the 
Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Bound up with, the Constitutions are, Advice to the 
Mistress of the Novices, Meditations to be used on 
taking the Veil * and Jaqueline Pascal's Eegulations 
for Children. There is also a small tract entitled 

* In one of these occurs the following quaint comment on the text, 
" She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework :" 
(Pa. xlv. 14.) "The work of sanctincation carried on in the believer's 
heart, is a slow and costly one, and cannot be completed without many 
a severe prick in the process." 



PORT ROYAL. 97 

" The Spirit of Port Roj-al," from which a few ex- 
tracts have been made. 

The spirit cultivated in this convent is difficult to describe, 
for it is in no way founded upon or alfected by the wisdom of 
this world, and therefore does not aim at a mere external per- 
fection. It desires to seek after God, and to obey Ilim in all 
things ; it teaches the creature to conceive of God as the 
Inconceivable, not only because His infinite greatness is in- 
comprehensible, but because we cannot of ourselves form any 
idea of God at all, still less can our ideas of Him be worthy 
of His character. And, therefore, the thought that Ha is God 
is enough to imbue the believing soul with a sense of rever- 
ent and entire dependence on His divine Majesty, and to teach 
it to expect every needful blessing in accordance with the or- 
der of His providence, though not of its own wishes. Best- 
ing on this foundation, the nuns do not expect to attain a high 
degree of religious perfection, though they eagerly desire it, 
for they know that God will give them precisely that amount 
of grace which they need, and which is best for them, while 
they are themselves incapable of judging whether some long- 
coveted attainment in piety might not, if attained, be the 
cause of their ruin, by fostering self-complacency and leading 
them to appropriate the credit due only to God. Neither are 
they taught to wish for great gifts in prayer, or for remarka- 
ble fervency of spirit. Such extraordinary emotions of mind 
are more to be dreaded than desired, because of the danger 
of self-deception. Their devotion rather consists in a contin- 
ual remembrance of God, in looking to Him, and referring 
everything to His will. And if unable at all times to main- 
tain this frame of mind, or if interrupted by distracting 
thoughts, they are not affrighted, knowing that the grace of 
God in the heart is subject to many fluctuations, and that our 
best intentions must be useless, and even worse than usele: 
unless God restrains our native corruption and defends us from 
5 



98 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

the power of Satan, who is ever trying to sow tares in our 
hearts, which may choke the good seed of God's word. 

The mutual love which we strive to cherish is not kept up 
hy caresses or familiar talk. The nuns know that this divine 
virtue, being shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, 
ought to be treasured there, without external manifestations, 
except at seasons appointed of God. Therefore, although in 
consequence of this concealment our love may not be outward- 
ly displayed, its existence need not be doubted. The hidden 
treasure is there, and will not fail to appear at the fitting mo- 
ment, since, instead of diminishing, it rather grows in secret, 
according to our Saviour's words, " Unto him that hath shall 
be given, while from him that hath not," meaning those who 
possess the semblance, but not the reality of virtue, " shall be 
taken away even that which he seemeth to have." 

The government of the Convent is kind, impartial, and firm. 
Kind, because those in authority do not lord it over the weak, 
and the latter yield a willing, unconstrained obedience. Im- 
partial, because those who do well are not praised, neither 
are those who fail severely blamed, and thus we endeavor to 
maintain an evenness of mind, which produces meekness in 
spiritual prosperity, and patience under the deprivation of 
those blessings whereof God is the sole Distributor and Sov- 
ereign. And strong, because the Superiors have no respect of 
persons, and do not fear that their firmness will be looked 
upon as harshness, while the honor of God and the wish to 
do His will, form the moving springs of all their actions. 

Although prizing and preferring the privilege of solid relig- 
ious instruction above every earthly blessing, we are well 
aware that this is not the chief good, and is not to be depend- 
ed on as sufficient for salvation ; we seek, therefore, to look to 
God as our Great Taskmaster, and the only source whence is 
derivable that help which we continually need. 

We endeavor to cherish a spirit of poverty and industry, 
and readily renounce all superfluities, and whatever tends to 



PORT ROYAL. 99 

charm the senses. In fact, the history of this Convent pre- 
sents a speciesof contesl between its rulers and the Almighty; 
His overruling Providence continually supplying their every 
want, while they, not daring to presume upon His bounty, 
nor to expect their undeserved prosperity to last, Btrive on the 
other hand to he prepared for indigence, if it should please 
Him to send it, and in the exercise of a wise discretion, to re- 
lieve the miseries of the poor as tar as they can. 

Above all, we wish to maintain a spirit of prayer, which 
looks to the Saviour for grace, and expects to receive it in an- 
swer to the petitions offered through His mediation, because 
He made himself the partaker of all our sorrows and the 
Ransomer of those who turn to Him, — and also a constant 
devotion to God's word. We prefer it to every other book, 
and instead of being troubled by the mysteries we do not un- 
derstand, we try to meditate on those we do, and leave to ( ""1 
the rest, never wearying of its blessed truths, but always lis- 
tening to them with the deepest attention and delight, and 
finding therein an exhaustless fountain of strength. 

The effect of their intercourse with Port Royal is 
very visible in the following joint letter addressed by- 
Pascal and Jaqueline to Madame Perier, and written 
in Jaqueline's hand. She often acted as her brother's 
scribe, and the letter being characteristic of Pascal 
both in sentiment and style, M. Faugere thinks it 
probable that he dictated it throughout, especially as 
some of its ideas were afterwards reproduced in the 
" Pensees de Pascal," and elsewhere. But we cannot 
doubt that the feelings expressed in the letter were 
shared by her who wrote them down. 



100 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

April 1st, 1648. 

We cannot tell whether this letter is destined, like the 
others, to have no formal close-, but we do know that when 
writing to you, we never wish to leave off. We are now 
reading M. de St. Cyran's letter, De la Vocation (on calling), 
which was printed a short time since, without approbation or 
privilege, and has given great offence. You shall have it as 
soon as we have finished, and we shall be glad to learn what 
your opinion of it is, and my father's also. Its tone is very 
high. 

We have begun to write you many times, but were induced 
to break off by the example and conversations, or discourage- 
ments, if you choose to call them so, of which you are aware.* 
Yet after procuring all the light upon this point in our power, 
I cannot but believe that, while caution is needful, and there 
are times when topics of a religious nature ought to be 
shunned, yet this necessity does not affect us. Our perfect 
mutual confidence, the conviction that our only aim in making 
such communications is to glorify God ; and our slight inter- 
course with persons not belonging to the family, are reasons 
strong enough to do away with every scruple in regard to 
informing one another of the feelings which God has in- 
spired within us. And if to these considerations be added 
the ties of nature between us, now strengthened by those of 
grace, it appears to me that far from being forbidden, we are 
actually bound to rejoice together over God's goodness to us 
as a household. For the blessing of being thus spiritually 
united is infinite, and ought to make us both grateful and 
glad. And, indeed, it is only since our conversion (which M. 
de St. Cyran says should be called the beginning of existence), 
that we have a right to consider our relationship as perfected ; 
God who had before united us by the tie of blood, having 

* Alluding to the extreme reserve in speaking of personal feeling 
or religious experience practised by the Jansenists and inculcated on 
their disciples. 



PORT EOYAL. 101 

now graciously united us in soul, and given ua a place among 
His redeemed. 

We entreat you never to forge! this, or [el a day pass with- 
out reviewing < rod's dealings u ith ua. He has not only made 
us kindred in Christ, bul children of one father in a twofold 
sense, since, as you know, my father's conversion preceded 
ours. Ought we not to be astonished al God's mercy in 
thus doubly allying us — both in emblem and reality? For, 
as we have often remarked when with you, corporeal things 
are but the types of spiritual, and God employs \ isible objects 
to represent those which arc invisible. This view of the rela- 
tion between the things of nature and those of grace 
in a wide range of profitable thoughts, and demands our fre- 
quent and serious attention; but having formerly discussed it 
with some minuteness, we will not enlarge upon the theme to- 
day, for there is not space in a letter to do it justice, neither 
can you have forgotten a truth of such importance, and as I 
think, so indispensable. 

Our sinful nature keeps us, so to speak, entangled among 
the snares of time and sense ; and this entanglement being at 
once the cause and punishment of our past offences, as well 
as a continual temptation to commit new ones, weonghl there- 
fore to turn these very accessories of our fall into stepping- 
stones for our recovery, and to improve the advantages afforded 
us by a merciful God, who in our temporal blessings sets ! 
us an ever-present type of the celestial riches we have lost, 
and surrounds us, even in the captivity to which His justice 
has reduced us, with so many objects calculated to yield a 
perpetual lesson, if we would but learn. 

We ought to consider ourselves as criminals in a prison 
hung around with pictures of our Liberator, and the necessary 
instructions for obtaining our freedom. Yet it must be owned 
that these holy hieroglyphics cannot be deciphered without a 
supernatural light, for the veiy things which speak of God and 
manifest His glory to them who know and love Him, serve to 



102 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

bide Him from those who know Him not. Persons thus 
blinded by the darkness of this world, grope after earthly 
things, because they love them, and look upon them as the 
chief good. But in so doing, they are guilty of sacrilege, for 
God is the sole origin of man's existence, and ought to be its 
end. Analogies may indeed exist between things created and 
the Creator, — the least and meanest objects in nature may, by 
their unity, be emblems of that perfection of unity which is 
found in God alone, — yet they have no claim on our sovereign 
regard, nor can we bestow it upon them without incurring the 
guilt of idolatry, hateful alike in the sight of God and man. 
For what is idolatry but the yielding of such honor to the 
creature as is due only to the Creator ? Scripture is full of 
instances of God's vengeance upon idolaters, and the first com- 
mandments of the Decalogue, which include all the rest, par- 
ticularly forbid the worship of images. Now, since God is 
far more jealous of our affections than of our external homage, 
it is plain that no crime can be so wicked and detestable in 
His sight as supreme love to any creature, no matter what that 
creature may represent. 

Those, therefore, to whom God has revealed His own glo- 
rious truth, ought to turn earthly blessings into a medium of 
communion with the Being whose glories they dimly shadow 
forth, instead of remaining in that state of Jewish and carnal 
blindness which takes the type for the ante-type. And those 
whom God has, by regeneration, gratuitously withdrawn from 
their former state of sin (which being a state of opposition to 
God, the only Source of true life, is virtual annihilation), are 
under double obligations to serve and honor Him, who not 
only bestowed on them the boon of existence and a place in 
His universe at the moment of their creation, but has added 
to these favors the gift of salvation, and a place in the true 
temple of His church. As creatures, they are bound to main- 
tain their rank in the order of creation, not profaning the post 
they fill ; and as Christians, they should continually aspire to 



PORT ROYAL. 103 

become worthy members of the body of Christ. But while 
the perfection of everything earthly must of necessity be finite, 
and therefore a limited degree of perfection is all that can be 
expected from the lower orders of creation, the children of 
God should set no bounds to their purity and perfection, be- 
oause they belong to a divine, an infinitely perfect body; and 
Jesus Christ,' far from limiting his command of perfection, 
proposes an infinite model in the words, "Be ye perfect, even 
as your Father in Heaven is perfect." It is not merely a 
common, but a dangerous error which leads BOme Christians, 
who nevertheless profess to be very devoted, to persuade them- 
selves that certain attainments in piety insure salvation, and 
need not be overpassed. Whereas, in reality, there is no point 
where it is not perilous to halt. We can only tSGSpe a fall by 
climbing continually higher. 



famttal ©jrpaitifftt. 

The elder Pascal was recalled from Normandy in 
1648, the Parliament having demanded, at the com- 
mencement of the struggles known as the wars of the 
Fronde, that all government commissioners should be 
removed from the provinces. He was appointed Coun- 
cillor of State on his return to Paris, which took place 
in the beginning of May. 

" M. Singlin," says Madame Perier, " thought he 
ought to be told of my sister's resolution, since she 
had quite decided to become a nun. My brother un- 
dertook to tell him, as there was no one else who 
could. The proposal surprised and strangely agitated 
my father. On the one hand, having begun to love 
the principles of a pure Christianity, he was glad to 
have his children like-minded ; but, on the other, his 
affection for my sister was so deep and tender, that he 
could not resolve to give her up forever. These con- 
flicting thoughts made him at first answer, that he 
would see and think about it. But finally, after some 
vacillations, he told him plainly that he would never 
give his consent, and even complained that my bro- 



PAKKXTAL OPPOSITION. 105 

ther had encouraged the plan without knowing 
whether it would meet bis approval. This consid- 
eration made hie . with my brother and sis- 
ter, that he lost his confidence in them, and ordered 

an old waiting woman who had brought them 
up to watch over their movements. This was :t great 
restraint upon my sister, for she could not go to Port 
Koyal except by stealth, nor see M. Singlin without 
some contrivance and dexterous excu 

Our sympathies are strong^ enlisted on behalf of 
the poor father, whose resentment at finding both his 
children in league to deprive him of Jaqueline's so- 
ciety was perfectly natural and justifiable. Yet it is 
but fair to add, that the latter's friends at Port Eoyal 
were very far from advising her to be disobedient. 
No Jesuitical casuistry was interposed by them be- 
tween her conscience and the plain command of God, 
" Obey your parents in all things." Their upright, 
elevated, self-sacrificing characters, so beautifully de- 
veloped in Jaqueline's subsequent history, as written 
by herself, had no affinity with that detestable maxim, 
" the end sanctifies the means." On the contrary, it 
was their endeavor to strengthen her faith, and en- 
courage her in patient submission, by assurances like 
these : — 

*" You are already a nun, my dear sister, because you have 

* Letters of the Mere Agnes to Jaqueline Pascal. The extracts 
in the text are taken from letters of different dates, all referring 
to the same subject, but too long to be inserted in full. 
5* 



106 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

determined to obey the call which God has given you ; but 
you will cease to be one, if you wish to forestall the precise 
moment of your profession, which God has put in his own 
power ; and until it arrives, He will withhold from you its pe- 
culiar mercies." "Yesterday, we had an admirable sermon 
from M. Singlin ; I could have wished you had been there, 
but for the fear that it might have excited your desire (of tak- 
ing the veil), and made your present state of suspense more 
painful. God is now punishing you for your past indifference 
to His claims. Our hunger and thirst after righteousness 
may be' long-protracted but cannot expiate our past distaste 
for holy things." " God himself often supplies the wants for 
which we have in vain had recourse to creatures." " Your 
letters, my dear sister, show us plainly that the hour is not yet 
come ; it is therefore our duty to wait for it in perfect submis- 
sion to God's decrees, on which all our welfare depends. You 
do not doubt that God is all-powerful ; but we are too apt to 
long for His power to take precedence of His will, so that we 
may be indulged in our own will, which we believe to be His 
also ; but this is not always the case. He often suffers us to 
feel desires which He does not intend to fulfill, and manifests 
this by the hindrances that His providence interposes. There- 
fore, we ought to receive such delays Avith as much satisfaction 
as if our wishes had been granted. They seem to me, my 
dear sister, a sign that God is trusting himself in us, or rather 
trusting the grace which He has given us, and which He 
knows to be so strong that it will not falter, so persevering 
that it cannot fail." " It is your duty to follow God's guid- 
ance, and to endure with meekness the delays occasioned by 
His providence. There is quite as much sin in wishing to 
prevent* the will of God, as there would be in not obeying it 
at the proper time. If you do not possess your soul in peace 
and perfect submission, you must cease the repetition of the 
Lord's prayer, for the phrase ' Thy will be done on earth as 

* Here used in the old sense of prevent, to go before. 



PARENTAL OPPOSITION. 107 

it is in heaven 1 includes the renunciation of every possible 
wish which docs not harmonize with (rod's will. I do not be- 
lieve, dear sister, that yon can desire to have tilings arranged 
in any other way than as God chooses ; for a conventual life 
will not make you what He designs to have you become, un- 
less you (Miter upon it in accordance with His will, and at the 
hour of His appointment < >ur Saviour now says to you as He 
once did to His apostles, ' It is not for you to know the times 
or the seasons which the Father hath put into his own power.' 
You are bound to accept the answer given you by your father, 
as a decree of God, who sees fit to reserve some other season 
for the gracious fulfilment of those desires which His grace has 
inspired within you. There are persons who would be un- 
faithful to God, did they not hasten to obey llis inward moni- 
tions ; you, on the contrary, would be greatly in fault if you 
were not to submit to the delays He has ordained for you. 
And you are to do this, not merely because you must, but 
willingly, by calmly yielding to God's appointments, and thus 
making your necessary obedience a voluntary one. For the 
words of Scripture are true, ' The law is not made for a right- 
eous man,' which means that the will of the just being one 
with God's will, they obey His laws and precepts in perfect 
liberty, without any constraint. And if you are not able to 
do this fully, try at least to submit in the manner that our 
Saviour taught us, when, partaking of the infirmities of our 
nature, he said unto his Father, ' Nevertheless, not my will, 
but Thine be done,' thereby showing that He was conscious 
of a will which shrank from the death appointed for Him by 
God's will." " I have no message for you from our mother 
(Angelique), but she feels as truly your spiritual mother as if 
you were already within the convent-walls. Those who love 
God have the advantage of loving their neighbors with sin- 
cerity, and pouring out their heart before Him on their be- 
half. May we be of their number, my very dear sister, and 
let the dying words of our departed friend be engraved upon 



108 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

our souls, ' Happy they who know none but God, and who are 
satisfied with God.'" "Neither the life of a nun, nor any 
other mode of life, can produce this state of heart ; yet with- 
it it all external worship is vain, and even our very prayers 
are fruitless, if the soul does not submit itself entirely to God, 
and find its nourishment in doing His will, according to our 
Saviour's words, ' My meat and my drink is to do the will of 
my Father.' " 

Let us now see the effect of these salutary counsels 
on Jaqueline. " The difficulties she met with," says 
Madame Perier, " did not lessen her zeal, and having 
renounced the world in heart, she no longer took the 
same delight in amusements as formerly. So that, al- 
though for awhile she carefully concealed her inten- 
sntion of devoting herself to God, it was easily per- 
ceived, and then finding that she could no longer hide 
it, she gradually withdrew from society, and broke off 
suddenly from all her acquaintance. For this, a favor- 
able opportunity was offered by my father's changing 
his residence. She made no acquaintances in her new 
neighborhood, and escaped from her old ones by never 
visiting them. Thus she found herself at liberty to 
live in solitude, which became so pleasant to her 
that she insensibly retired even from the family circle, 
and sometimes spent the whole day alone in her own 
rhamber. It is impossible to say how she employed 
herself in this perfect solitude, but each day it could 
be perceived that she was visibly growing in grace, 
and though under many restrictions, she did not give 
up her occasional visits to Port Eoyal, nor her corre- 



I'AIIKMAL OPPOSITION. 109 

spondence with its inmates, which she managed with 
much fcact." 

A letter of Jaqueline's to her lather, requesting 
leave to make a fortnight's "retreat"* at Port R 
has been preserved. Its eager yet submissive tone 
shows how ardent was her longing for a monastic life; 
and probably won the permission requested. 

The next document concerning Jaqueline is an- 
other joint letter from herself and Pascal to Madame 
Perier : — 

Pauis, Nov. 5, afternoon, 1648. 

My dear Sister, 

Your letter brought back the remembrance of :i dis- 
pute, so fully at an end, as to be quite forgotten. Our expla- 
nations did indeed revive old grievances, but at the same time 
our apologies softened my father's resentment. We repeated 
what you had already said, not knowing that you had said it, 
and afterwards made verbal excuses, like those which you had 
written, not knowing that you had sent them. For we were 
not aware of your proceedings until after we had ourselves 
done the very same, but as we had no secrets from my father, 
he explained to us the whole, and did away with our suspi- 
cions. You know how their misunderstandings interfere with 
the peace of home, both externally and internally, and how 
greatly one needs such a warning as you sent us when it was 
too late. 

And now we have a little private scolding for yourself. In 
the first place, what made you say that you had learnt every- 
thing in your letter from me ? For I have no recollection of 

* The name given to a period of weeks or months passed in a 
convent by one not of the house, in the seclusion and sharing the 
services of its regular inmates. 



110 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

having spoken to you on the subject, -which seemed quite new 
to me. And were what you say true, I should fear that you 
had learnt the lesson in a wrong spirit, or else you would have 
lost the remembrance of the human teacher, in thinking of 
God, who alone can make the truth effectual. If it has 'lone 
you any good, that good comes from God alone, without 
whose aid neither you nor any other person can learn aright. 
And although in this sort of gratitude, we do not look upon 
men as the actual authors of the blessings we receive by their 
means, yet they are too apt to rival God in our esteem, espe- 
cially if our souls be not thoroughly purified from those carnal 
tendencies which tempt us to consider the channels of good as 
its source. 

Xot that we are to be ungrateful or forgetful of those who 
have instructed us, when duly authorized, as priests, bishops 
and confessors are. They are teachers, and other men are 
their disciples. But it is very different in our case ; and as 
the angel refused to be worshipped by one who was his fellow- 
servant, so we must beg you not to pay us such compliments 
again, nor to use the expressions of human gratitude, since we 
are but learners, like yourself. 

And, in the second place, why do you say that it is needless 
to repeat these things, because we already know them well ? 
We are afraid that you do not make a sufficient distinction 
between the things of which you speak, which are holy, and 
those of every-day life. Doubtless, when the latter are once 
fixed in the memory, they need no repetition, but it is not so 
with divine things. To have comprehended these once, though 
in a right way, I mean by the help of God's Spirit, is not 
enough to make us retain the knowledge of such truths, even 
if we perfectly remember them. It is as easy to learn an 
epistle of St. Paul by heart, and to retain it in the memory, 
as a book of Virgil ; but the knowledge thus acquired aud 
thus preserved, is but an effort of memory. In order that we 
may penetrate its hidden meaning, the same grace which first 



PARENTAL OPPOSITION. Ill 

made truth clear to us, must continue bo preserve it in our 
hearts, by daily writing it anew on those fleshly tablets, 
.lust as God perpetually renews the happiness of glorified 
saints, which is at once the work and the resull of gi 
and as the Church holds thai the Father continually produces 
the Son, and maintains the eternity of His being l>y an effu- 
sion of His own substance, without interruption and without 
end. 

Thus, the perseverance of the saints is neither more nor less 
than God's grace, perpetually imparted, and not given once 
for all, in a mass thai is to last forever, which leaches us how 
completely we are dependent on God's mercy; for if Ee 
should for a moment withhold the Bap of His grace, we musl 
of necessity wither away. Therefore, it is plain that we are 
hound always to mate aew efforts to gain a newness of heart, 
because we can only retain the grace we already possess by 
acquiring new grace. Otherwise, we should lose that grace 
which we hoped was our own, just as those who would shut 
in light, find themselves shut up in darkness. And we ought 
to strive daily to purify the soul, which is daily soiled with fresh 
spots before the old ones are effaced, and cannot, unless by 
assiduous cleansing, be made meet to receive that new wine, 
which must not be put into old bottles. 

Fear not, therefore, to remind us of things we already know. 
They need to sink deeper into our hearts, and your discourse 
will be more likely to fix them there, than if the idea remain- 
ed undisturbed in our memories. And, besides, divine grace 
is vouchsafed in answer to prayer, and your love for us is one 
of those prayers which go up without ceasing. For the same 
reason, we should never decline to hear or read of holy things, 
no matter how common or familiar they may be, since our 
memory, like the teachings it retains, is but a lifeless, formal 
body without God's vivifying Spirit. And it often happens 
that God makes use of these outward methods to make us 
comprehend His own truths, and thereby gives less scope to 



112 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

human vanity. A book or sermon of the most ordinary kind 
may produce more effect on any one who studies them atten- 
tively, than the most elaborate discourses, which often please 
more than they profit. We sometimes see, that persons lis- 
tening to the truth in a right spirit, though ignorant and 
even stupid,' are affected by the simple mention of God, and 
the threat of eternal punishment, which is all they understand, 
and which they knew very well before. 

In the third place, you say that you only write on religious 
subjects, to let us know that you share our feelings, and for 
this we both praise and thank you. We honor your perse- 
verance, and thank you for having thus proved it. We had 
already learned as much from M. Perier, and being sure, from 
what he told us, of the state of your mind, we can only ex- 
press our gladness by asking you to imagine what your own 
joy would be, if you were to hear the same good news of us. 

We have nothing special to say to you, unless about the 
plan of your house.* We know that M. Perier is too ear- 
nest in what he undertakes, to be able to give full attention to 
two things at once ; and the whole plan is so extensive, that 
if he carry it out, it must engross his thoughts for a very long 
time. True, he only expects to rear a part of the edifice, but 
that, besides being large in itself, pledges him to finish the re- 
mainder, in spite of every resolution, as soon as the present 
obstacles are removed ; especially if he spends the time in 
building which he ought to employ in overcoming its fascina- 
tions. So we have advised him to build on a more moderate 
scale, and only that which is absolutely necessary ; but to pro- 
ceed on the same plan already agreed on, so that he may 
neither be obliged to complete it now, nor yet deprive himself 
of the power of so doing hereafter. We beg you to think 
seriously of this, and to make up your mind to second our 

* This refers to the country-house which M. Perier was then 
building, and which still stands at Bienassis, near the gates of Cler- 



PARENTAL OPPOSITION. 113 

advice, lesl he should be more prudent, and take more care 
and paina in the erection of a house which be a qoI ol 
to rear, than in the building of that mystic tower, whereof 
you know St. Augustine speaks in one of his letters, which lie 
is solemnly pledged to finish. Adieu. B. 1'. — J. I'. 

Postscript by Jaqueline : 

I hope to write soon about my own concerns, and give you 
full particulars: meantime, pray to God form] success. If 
you are acquainted with any pious people, ask them to pray 

t'.>r me too. 

The last line is written in Blaise Pascal's hand. 

•• Mv father," continues Mad. Perier, " waswell per- 
suaded that she had chosen the better part, and pa- 
rental tenderness alone made him oppose her pr 

Finding, therefore, that each day only strengt! 
her resolve, he told her that he saw plainly the world 
had no interest for her, that he fully approved he 
sign, and would promise never to listen to any pro- 
posals for her settlement in marriage, however advan- 
tageous, but that he begged of her not to leave him, 
that his life would not be very long, and that if she would 
only be patient till its close, he would allow her to live 
as she chose at home. She thanked him, but made no 
positive answer to his entreaty that she would not 
leave him, promising however that he should never 
have any reason to complain of her disobedience. 
This was about May, 1649, and at that time, my father 
resolved to visit Auvergne, together with my brother 
and sister. She greatly dreaded this journey, because 



114 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of the influx of relatives and company to which one 
is exposed in a little country town, and accordingly 
wrote me that in order to avoid this probable embar- 
rassment, she thought I had better publicly announce 
her resolution to take the veil, and that her profession 
was only deferred out of respect for my father's wishes. 
I did not fail to fulfil my commission, and it succeeded 
so well, that on her arrival no one was surprised to 
see her dressed like an old woman, with great modesty, 
nor that after having returned the first calls of civil- 
ity, she shut herself up, not merely in the house but 
in her room, which she only left to go to church, or 
to take her meals, and into which none ever intruded. 
So that even in my own case, if I had anything to 
tell her, I used to make a little memorandum, or some 
kind of mark, that I might remember it when she 
came to table or on our way to church, whither we 
always went together. This was my best opportunity 
of speaking to her, though very short, as we had not 
far to go. Not that she forbade me or any one else 
to enter her room, nor that she refused to listen, but 
but we saw that whenever her thoughts were called 
off in order to talk on subjects not absolutely neces- 
sary, it evidently tired and wearied her so much that 
we tried to avoid giving her the annoyance. 

" There was then at Clermont a Father of the Ora- 
tory* whose life was exemplary. The good man often 

* A religious order founded iu Italy by St. Philip Neri, the intimate 
friend of St. Charles Borromeo, bouud by no vows, but devoting its 



PARENTAL OPPOSITION. 115 

came to see my sister, and Lis edifying conversation 
gave her pleasure. He one day said to her, that since 
her talents had been formerly employed on worldly 

themes, it was but reasonable that Bhe should now 
use them in some attempt at honoring God ; that he 
had heard of her as writing poetry, ami had thought 
of furnishing her with an opportunity of thus gl< 
ing God, by translating for her some of the Church 
hymns from Latin into French prose, which she might 
afterwards versify. She replied most promptly, that 
she was quite willing. He brought her first the As- 
cension hymn Jesu Nostra Redemptio, which is chanted 
every day at the Oratory, and she put it into rhyme. 
" Her poem has been translated as follows : 

Jesus, great Ransom of a world redeemed, 
Our hearts' Beloved, and our souls' Desire ! 

Thy mighty Godhead in Creation beamed, 
Yet woman-born, Thou didst as man expire. 

What wealth of mercy to a rebel race 

Made Thee so horrible a death endure, 
That bearing thus their sins, Thy boundless grace 

Might from eternal death Thine own secure ! 

To the far depths of Hell Thy splendor shone 
And roused thy captives from their long despair ; 

members to the task of reading the Scriptures, praying with the poor, 
founding and visiting hospitals for the sick. They took the name of 
Oratorians from the little chapel or oratory in which they used to 
assemble round St. Philip to receive his instructions. The order was 
introduced into France in 1631. 



116 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

Then Glorious Victor ! to Thy Father's throne 
Thou didst ascend, to reign forever there ! 

Oh let the same rich goodness hind Thee still 
To bid the sorrows of Thy people cease ! 

Pardon Thou all their guilt, their prayers fulfil, 
And let them view Thy face in heavenly peace. 

Be Thou our only joy, Christ our King ! 

For Thou wilt ever be our sole reward ; 
And ceaseless anthems to Thy praise shall ring, 

In the bright day of Thine appearing, Lord ! 

" The good father thought it so fine, that he urged 
her to proceed, but her scruples were aroused by the 
reflection that she had undertaken the work without 
due consultation, and she wrote to the Mere Agnes, 
who sent her a beautiful letter in reply, in which, with 
other things, she said : 

I have obtained Mons. Singlin's opinion on the questions 
you ask. To the first (which seems to have been an inquiry 
into the propriety of some employment) he says that nuns 
must not work for vanity, and it -would be better for you to 
work on it a little at a time, by way of occupation. As to 
the second, it is better for you to hide your talents of that 
nature, instead of making them known. God Avill not re- 
quire an account of them, and they must be buried, for the 
lot of woman is humility and silence.' Again, ' I am very glad 
that you have yourself anticipated this decision. You ought 
to hate your genius, and all the other traits in your character 
which perhaps cause the world to retain you, for where it has 
sown, it would fain gather the harvest Our Saviour will do 
the same in his own good time. He will call for the fruit 



PARENTAL OPPOSITION. 117 

of that divine seed which he has Bet in your heart, and which, 
with patience, will become abundantly multiplied. This is all 
He now asks of us. 

" When Jaqueline received this letter, she showed it 
to me, and, without giving any reason, begged the 
good father to excuse her from proceeding further." 

" This was probably her last poetic effort. Dr. Reuch- 
lin, however, ascribes to this period of her life the 
following lines, which bear no date in the collection 
of Jaqueline's pieces. He calls it the Swan-song of 
the poetess ere she laid the gift of song, as did *Le- 
maitre that of eloquence, on the altar of her God, de- 
signing to glorify Him by the sacrifice. 

" The little poem has been thus translated : 

ye dark forests, in whose sombre shades 

Night finds a noonday lair, 
Silence, a sacred refuge ! to your glades 

A stranger worn with cave 
And weary of life's jostle, would repair. 
He asks no medicine for his fond heart's pain, 
He breaks your stillness with no piercing cry ; 
He comes not to complain, 
He only comes to die ! 

* Lemaitre was a Freuck pleader, brother of De Saci, nephew of 
Mere Angelique, and celebrated for bis eloquence. He became one 
of the Port Royalist converts, and after a brilliant farewell speech, 
quitted tbe bar forever. So thorough was tbe self-mortification de- 
manded by his confessor, tbat be was not even allowed to correct a 
new edition of bis former speeches. 



118 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

To die among the busy haunts of men 

Were to betray his woe, 
But these thick woods and this sequestered glen 

No trace of suffering show. 
Here would he die that none his love may know. 
Ye need not dread his weeping— tears are vain — 
Here let him perish and unheeded lie ; 

He comes not to complain, 
He only comes to die. 

Madame Perier continues : " She then returned to 
her ordinary employments, and to her strict solitude, 
which she never quitted, unless necessity obliged her. 
But she was not idle, for after regularly reciting her 
offices,* and after reading, which employed her close- 
ly, as she made extracts from the hooks she read, she 
spent the rest of her time in working for the poor. 
She made them thick woollen stockings, under linen, 
and other small comforts, which, when finished, she 
carried herself to the hospital. It was occasion of 
wonder and edification that this entire separation from 
the world did not make her sour in manners and tem- 
per, but on the contrary she was always charmingly 
affable, and ever ready to go out of doors on any 
charitable errand, as we many times on trial found. 
During this time I was often indisposed, and she 
would sit with me all day, without seeming in the 
least disconcerted. Several of my children had vio- 
lent illnesses, and she nursed them with admirable 

* The daily stint of reading in a book of devotion. 



I'AKKNTAL OPPOSITION. 119 

kindness. Even when one of my little girls died of 
confluent small-pox, my sister attended her to the Last, 
and though the illness continued a fortnight, she only 
wenl ini') her own room to repeat her offices, choos- 
ing for that purpose the child's intervals of ( ease, 
watching over her night and clay with the ten I 
care, and passing many nights without once I 
down. When there was no more need of her charita- 
ble services in this case, she returned to her usual 
course in her chamber. Jaqueline took great pleasure 
in occasional visits to poor sick people about the 
town, accompanying an excellent young lady who de- 
voted herself entirely to the poor. And to all this, 
she added great bodily austerities. As we had but 
scanty lodging room, a partition needed to be put up 
for her accommodation in a place where there was no 
chimney, at some distance from the other rooms. 
There she passed a whole winter, without allowing us 
to do the least thing for her comfort, nor would she 
be persuaded to come near the fire at meal-times, 
which made us all very uneasy. Her abstinence also 
troubled us, for though she partook of our ordinary 
food, yet it was in such small portions, that, being 
naturally very delicate, she lessened her strength and 
ruined her digestion, till when at last we insisted on 
her taking more nourishment, she was unable. Her 
vigils, too, were extraordinary ; not that we knew 
their exact length, except as we perceived by the 
number of candles she burned, and by similar circum- 



120 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

stances. Her admirable foresight made her prepare 
for a conventual dress, which, differing as it does from 
the dress worn generally, troubles the body and so 
clogs the soul, and to guard against this, she accus- 
tomed herself as much as possible to its inconve- 
niences. Her shoes were made very low in the heel, 
she wore no corsets, cut off her hair, and put on head- 
dresses that were larger and more embarrassing than 
a veil would have been. These precautions were so 
effectual, that when she actually entered the convent, 
her costume was not the least annoyance to her. 
Thus she passed seventeen months in our house at 
Clermont. 

" After this, my father took her back to Paris, in 
November, 1650. Jaqueline was comfortably lodged 
there, having her own private parlor and bedroom. 
My father allowed her all the liberty she could wish 
in her pious exercises, and she practiced them punc- 
tually ; but her communication with Port Eoyal was 
still restricted, and she could only enjoy it by stealth. 
This did not prevent her from occasionally seeing and 
often hearing of her friends there. They regularly 
sent her notes every month, including those of the 
mysteries, with the reflections which they deduced 
from them. On Ascension day, 1651, the Mere Agnes 
sent her a note, as if she had been one of the nuns, on 
the Mystery of our Lord's death, and she meditated 
on it so carefully, that God inspired her with some 
admirable thoughts thereon, which she wrote down. 



PARENTAL OPPOSITION. 121 

Monsieur dc Rcbours* favored me with a copy, but it 
was such a secret, that my sister never knew I had 
even seen them. 

" Not having been at Paris that year, I can give no 
special account of her mode of life, but I learnt from 
my brother that it was much the same as at Cler- 
mont." 

With regard to the " Eeflections on the death of 
Christ" mentioned by Madame Perier, it may be add- 
ed, that it was customary at Port Royal to decide by 
lot, every month, on a motto, or subject of medita- 
tion, for each member of the sisterhood. The Mere 
Agnes, who treated Jaqueline with the same affection 
as if she had really taken the veil, wrote her on the 
20th of May, 1651, as follows :— 

I have drawn for you the mystery of Jesus Christ's death, 
and the same subject has also fallen to my own lot. I have 
thereby been led to think that this holy mystery unites in it- 
self all other precedent mysteries, since they were all to ter- 
minate in that wonderful death which alone could effect the 
salvation of the world. And in like manner, none of those 
holy desires, emotions, and actions which God inspires ^vithin 
us, can reach their full perfection, nor aid us in the attainment 
of holiness, until our self-will is entirely dead, and happily 
swallowed up in God's will. When this is done, we cannot 
fail of experiencing that resurrection which gives eternal life 
to a soul that has renounced the principle of spiritual death, 

* Anton de Rebours, one of St. Cyran's disciples, -who, though pre- 
ferring a life of entire solitude, had been induced by Singlin to enter 
the priesthood, and share with him the duties of confessor to the nuns 
and novices of Port Royal. 

6 



122 JAQTJELINE PASCAL. 

namely, self-will. Let us therefore try, my dear sister, to re- 
.•ilize that it is the privilege of our heavenly calling to die 
daily, and let us not shrink from crucifying our own inclina- 
tions many times a day, if we may thereby honor Him whose 
death has procured for us eternal life. 

Jaqueline's reflections on this subject, though not 
equal in point of style to her brother's writings, dis- 
play much vigor of thought, and it was at one time 
proposed to publish them in connection with Pascal's 
celebrated posthumous work. They were afterwards 
issued at the close of the " Conferences of the Venerable 
Mother Marie Angelique Arnauld." Brussels, 1757. 



€ h c $t 9-bit t* 



"In September, 1651," says Madame Perier, "my 
father was seized with the illness of winch he died, 
and my sister devoted herself to attendance upon him 
by day and night, with the utmost zeal and assiduity. 
She may be said to have done nothing else, for when 
her presence was not needed in his room, she with- 
drew to her own apartment, where, as she herself told 
me, prostrating herself, she prayed for him incessant- 
ly with tears. But God, notwithstanding, did accord- 
ing to His own will, and my father died, September 
24th. We were at once informed of it, (being then at 
Clermont,) but my state of health prevented us from 
reaching Paris before the last of November." 

Jaqueline announced the calamity to Madame Pe- 
rier, and gave the details of their father's illness, and 
Blaise soon afterwards wrote a consolatory letter in 
her name and his own, to their relatives at Clermont. 
The whole epistle is very beautiful, but too long for 
insertion here. A few of the more striking passages 
have therefore been selected for translation : 

In our trials, we are not to look for consolation in ourselves, 



124 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

in man, or in any created thing, but in God. And the reason 
of this is, that creatures are not the primary cause of those 
events -which we call sorrows ; therefore, since God's provi- 
dence is the sole cause, arbiter, and sovereign of all that be- 
falls us, we ought unquestionably to trace back every occur- 
rence to its source and origin in God's will, in order to consid- 
er it rightly. Following this rule, we should regard this event 
(his father's death) not as the effect of chance, not as a fatal 
necessity of nature, which makes man the football of the ele- 
ments, or the victim of his own internal structure, (for God 
has not abandoned his elect to caprice or chance ;) but we 
should look upon the death that has occurred as an indispen- 
sable, inevitable, wise, and righteous consequence of the de- 
crees of God's providence, for the welfare of the Church, and 
the glory of His own great name, which was destined before 
the world was, to take place in the fulness of time, in the very 
year, the very day, the very hour, the very place and manner, 
foreseen and foreordained of God from all eternity. If, there- 
fore, the power of grace enables us to consider this event, not 
in itself, and apart from God, but in its proper position as 
one of the mysteries of the divine will, — that will which is al- 
ways righteous in its decrees, and orderly in its arrangements, 
— we shall look upon God as the true cause of our bereave- 
ment, since without His will it could not have happened, and 
His will prescribed the exact time and mode in which it did 
happen ; we shall adore in humble silence the impenetrable 
grandeur of His counsels, we shall reverence the justice of 
His decrees, we shall bless the arrangements of His provi- 
dence, and blending our will with God's will, we shall desire, 
with Him, in Him, and for Him, the things which He has or- 
dained in us and for us from all eternity. 

Let us view death in the light of those truths taught us by 
the Holy Ghost. We shall thus gain the infinite advantage 
of knowing that death is the penalty of sin, inflicted upon 
man originally as the punishment of sin, and now necessary 



THE NOVICE. 125 

to deliver him from its power. Death alone can set God's 
people entirely free from that corrupt and earnal nature with 
which they come into the world. We know also that life — 
the life of a believer — ought to be a continual burnt-offering. 
Our Saviour, when on earth, considered himself as a sacrifice, 
and offered up himself to the Father as a holocaust, and an 
actual victim. His birth, his life, his death, his resurrection 
and ascension, his presence with his people, and his continual 
priesthood at God's right hand, constitute one unique and 
complete sacrifice. Now what happened to Jesus as l|. I 
of the Church, must necessarily be partaken of by all his 
members ; we are, consequently, to look upon our lives a- a 
sacrifice, and the accidents of life ought to affect the minds 
of Christians only by the degree in which they interrupt or 
accomplish that sacrifice. 

Let us then view death in Jesus Christ, and not without 
Him. Without Christ, death is naturally an object of detes- 
tation and dread. In Christ, all is changed, and death be- 
comes lovely, holy, — the object of the believer's desire and 
joy. In Christ all things- are pleasant, and work together for 
our good. Death is no exception, for Christ suffered and 
died, that He might sanctify death and sorrow. As God 
and man, he experienced the two extremes of majesty and 
meanness, and in so doing, he sanctified everything save sin, 
and became an example for us in every condition. 

Therefore let us not mourn as do the heathen who are 
without hope ; let us not obey the suggestions of nature, but 
the teachings of Scripture. Not looking upon our father as 
a man who has ceased to live, but as one who has just begun 
to live ; for his soul has not perished — it is not annihilated — 
it lives, and is united to the Source of Life. Let the convic- 
tion of this truth correct the erroneous feelings and the emo- 
tions of horror at the thought of death, which are so deeply 
rooted in the nature of man. 

Not that we are to feel no regret. The blow is too painful. 



126 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

Without supernatural aid, it would be insupportable. It is 
not right for u.s to lie without grief, even as the angels who 
are unconscious of sorrow, neither ought we to refuse comfort, 
as do the heathen in their ignorance of grace. But it is on? 
duty to grieve and to receive consolation in a Christian spirit, 
to let the comforts of grace overcome our natural sorrow, and 
to say with the apostle, " Being afflicted, we give thanks." 
Thus grace will not only be in our hearts, but it will rule 
them, thus hallowing our Father's name. His will shall be 
done in us, His grace will reign over us, and our very afflic- 
tions will become a sacrifice which the flame of His divine 
love shall kindle, consume, and destroy for His own glory. 
Thus too even our imperfections will form a part of this 
holocaust, for sincere Christians endeavor to derive benefit 
fiom their past offences, because it is promised that all things 
shall work together for good to the elect according to God's 
purpose. 

A holy man once told me that one of the most advanta- 
geous ways of showing our love for departed friends is to do 
as they would advise us, were they still living, to follow their 
holy counsels, and to endeavor to attain that state of holi- 
ness in which they would delight to see us. We thus cause 
them, as it were, to revive in us, by obeying their wishes, and 
doing as they would have clone in our place. Let us do this 
for our beloved father, striving, as in God's sight, to fill his 
place as far as we can, and let us take comfort in that union 
of hearts in which I feel as if he were still alive and with us. 
So that when Ave meet, his presence may appear to be in some 
degree restored to us, even as Jesus Christ is ever present in 
the assemblies and hearts of His people. 

May God awaken and maintain these feelings in us all, and 
continue in my heart that affection for you and ray sister, 
which seems to me greater at this moment than it ever was 
before. I feel as if the love we used to lavish on my father 
ought not to be lost, but to be gathered up and concentrated 



THE NOVICE. 127 

on each other. The legacy of love he left us should be in- 
vested in a deeper fraternal devotion, if that were poaaibl . 
His loss is greater to ine than to the others. Had I lost him 
six years ago, I had been ruined, and Ihough my need ■ 
is not quite so absolute at the present time, it seems as if h 
were necessary to me for the next ten years, and his p* 
would have been useful through my whole life. But « 
bound to hope that since God has seen fit to take- him aw 
in the present time and manner, the removal will prove in : 
and expedient for our salvation and His own glory. Strang! 
as it may seem, I believe that we ought to look upon every 
event, no matter how dark or distressing, in this way, and to 
feel that God will make it an occasion of joy, if we commit it 
unto Him. Let us then place our souls and all our concerns 
in His keeping, and not suffer ourselves to be swallowed up 
of overmuch sorrow. 

The strong affection which. Blaise here expresses 
for Ms sisters, made the idea of parting with Jaqueln; i 
exceedingly distasteful to him. Mad. Perier says : 
" My brother was much comforted in his deep afflj - 
tion by her society, and he imagined that kindness 
would induce her to stay with him at least a year, and 
help him in recovering from this great calamity. He 
spoke of it to her in a way which plainly showed he 
felt sure that she would not dare to refuse him for fear 
of enhancing his grief: she was therefore obliged to 
conceal her intentions until we arrived. She then 
told me that she meant to take the veil as soon as the 
estate was divided, and that she should spare my 
brother's feelings by letting him think she was only 
going to make a Retreat at Port Royal. Sho made ail 



128 JAQUELIN-E PASCAL. 

her arrangements for this in my presence. The divi- 
sion of property was signed on the last day of Decem- 
ber, and she fixed the 4th of January for her depart- 
ure." 

It does not appear that Etienne Pascal left a very 
large fortune. His resolute probity had prevented 
him from amassing -wealth by unfair means during 
his administration of affairs at Eouen, and we learn 
from Jaqueline herself that she felt it her duty to 
transfer a considerable part of her own share of the 
property to her brother. 

Mad. Perier thus describes her sister's departure : 
" The evening before, she begged me to mention it to 
my brother, in order that he might be prepared. I 
did so with all the precaution I could, but though I 
told him she was only going to try for a little while 
how that manner of living would suit her, yet he felt 
very much hurt, and mournfully shut himself up in 
his own room, without seeing my sister, who was then 
in a little anteroom, where she used to say her pray- 
ers. She did not leave it till he was gone, fearing that 
the sight of her would give him pain. I told her the 
loving words he had said, and then we all retired for 
the night. But though I heartily approved of her 
proceedings, because I believed that nothing could be 
a greater blessing to her, yet her wonderful resolution 
so astonished me and engrossed my thoughts, that I 
could not sleep. 

" About seven, finding that she did not get up, I 



THE NOVICE. 129 

was afraid she had not slept any m I, and 

might feel ill. So I went 1o her bed, where she lay 

I asleep. The noise I made awaked h 
asked what o'clock it was. I told her, and inquired 
how she felt, and if she had slept : Bhe an-, 
she was well, and had slept well. She rose, dre 
and went away; doing this, as she did everything, 
with inconceivable calmness and ev spirit. 

We did not say good-bye, for fear of being overcome, 
and I turned aside from her path, when I saw l! 
was ready to depart. In this manner she bade the 
world farewell, January 4th, 1652, being then twenty- 
six years and three months old." 

Here ends Madame Perier's sketch of her sister's 
life. The touching simplicity of its close develops her 
own unselfishness, as well as Jaqueline's heroism, and 
the strength of Pascal's fraternal love. 

Once within the walls of Port Royal, Jaqueline was 
eagerly desirous of sealing her fate by the assumption 
of the veil, but her brothers great reluctance to this 
step obliged her to write him a letter at once resolute 
and tender, wherein, while reminding him that she 
does not need his approbation, she earnestly implores 
it, and invites him to be present at the ceremony. M. 
Cousin thus characterizes it, "It is the letter both of 
a woman and a saint, it mingles the passion and ob- 
stinacy, which belonged to the w r hole family, with a 
charming gentleness, and expresses them in accents 
6* 



130 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of alternate command and meek entreaty." A few- 
extracts win give some idea of its tone. 

Poet Royal du Saint Sacremext, March 7, 1652. 

My very dear Brother, 

I can give no stronger proof of my wish that you 
may receive the intelligence I have to communicate with joy 
and calmness of soul, and a ready acknowledgment of God's 
goodness, than by selecting M. Hobier as my messenger. . . 
. . . For although I am now free, and God, whose chasten- 
ings are favors, and who chastens those He loves, has chosen 
to remove the only legitimate obstacle* to the vows I desire 
to take, in the manner you are aware of, and I dare not 
name, lest a degree of sadness should mingle with my joy, 
yet I earnestly wish for your consent and approval, and I now, 
with the deepest affection, request them. Not that they are 
necessary for the accomplishment of my design, but, if you 
should withhold them, I could not fulfil it in peace and glad- 
ness, nor with a tranquil soul God, indeed, by 

your means, first awakened in my soul the stirrings of His 
grace, but you know very well that He alone is the author of 
our love and delight in what is good. You have, therefore, 
the power of troubling my peace, but you cannot restore it, 
if, through your fault, I should once lose it. And you ought 
in some measure to judge of my affection by your own, and 
to consider that if I am strong enough to persevere, despite 
your resistance, I may not have strength to bear up against 

the grief it will occasion me I know that nature 

uses all kinds of weapons in such conflicts, and that every 
means of escaping what she dreads seems allowable. Her sug- 
gestions, too, will be fomented by your worldly acquaintances. 

. . . . Human praise is one of our great Adversary's 
most effectual methods of weakening the power of religion id 

* Alluding to the death of her father. 



THE NOVICE. 131 

Uio soul. When he sees that violence cannot rend it away, 
he tries to wile it from us by the world's caresses. He for- 
merly inspired persecutors with the idea of thus shaking the 
faith and constancy of martyrs, and even now suggests it to 
the best friends of Christ's church, in the hope of overcoming 
the constancy of the faithful. Resist this temptation boldly, 
if it should attack you, and if the world shows some regret at 
seeing me no more, be you very sure that this regret is an 
illusion, for the world cannot really love one who is not of it, 
who never will be, and whose chief desire is to destroy all its 

hold on her by a solemn vow The attractions 

and promises of earth are so vain and narrow, that if we do 
but exercise a little reason, enlightened by faith and sustained 
by grace, we shall find no difficulty in relinquishing before- 
hand the things which in a few brief moments must be wrested 

from our grasp The thought of God's infinite 

love, which passeth understanding, as shown to a creature so 
unworthy, so overwhelms me, even while I write, that if I 
dared, I believe I should here confess the sins of my whole 
life, in order that Ave might both better comprehend the ex- 
ceeding riches of His mercy. But this is needless, if you will 
only tax your memory to recall the time when I loved the 
world, and when my very knowledge and love of God in- 
creased my guilt, because my heart was so unequally divided 
between two masters. I blush to remember how often you 
tried in vain to convince me that I could not unite two things 
so opposed as is the spirit of religion to that of the world. 
And oh what unceasing gratitude do we not owe to God for 
having dispelled this dangerous blindness ! .... Do 
from a good motive that which you must do. Give up to 
God that which He is taking from you, for He loves to have 
us cheerfully bestow on Him that which it is His will to de- 
prive us of. .... I have written to my sister, and now 
ask you to encourage and console her if necessary. I tell her 
that if she wishes it, and thinks it is in my power to fortify 



132 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

her mind, it will delight me to see her, hut that if she comes 
in the hope of changing my resolution, her pains will be 
thrown away. I say the same to you My invi- 
tation to the ceremony is of course a mere form, for I do not 
imagine you. would dream of staying away. If you did, you 
well know that I should give you up forever. Now do with 
n good grace that which you will he forced to do ; I mean, do 
it in a spirit of kindness, and do not make me unhappy, for I 
cannot see that I have ever given you cause. Farewell, my 
very dear brother. 

Extract of a letter from Jaqueline Pascal to Mad. 
Perier : 

Port Royal du Saint Sacrament, May 10, 1652. 
There is nothing but sorrow everywhere, yet I am full of 
joy, for the day when I am to take the veil is fixed for the 

feast of Trinity, by God's help, which I hope to have 

After so much opposition, it seems like a dream to find myself 
so near it. I shall fear that it is only an illusion, till the cere- 
mony is really over. But I will not waste time in expatiating 
on my happiness, for you cannot doubt it. Enough, that the 
steadfastness of my determination proves that I have not mis- 
taken my calling, and that I can say with David, "As we 
have heard, so have we seen in the city of our God." 

I sent the news to my brother by M. Hobier, on Ascension 
Day. He came next morning, nearly wild with the terrible 
headache it had given him, yet very much softened, for in- 
stead of the two years' delay he had asked the last time I 
saw him, he only wanted me to wait until All Saints' Day ; 
but seeing me determined not to put it off, and yet complais- 
ant enough to allow him a short time to get reconciled to the 
project, he gave up entirely, and even pitied me for b 
^ain to defer a thing which I had set my heart upon so 
- ill he did not give his consent at once ; but M. d'Andilly,* 

* A brother of the Abbesses Ang61ique and Agnes, M. Arnauld 



THE NOVICE. 133 

by my request, was kind enough to send for him on Satur- 
day, and t<> argue with him so skilfully and cordially, that he 
agreed to everything we wished, and we came to this conclu- 
sion. Be begged me, if possible, to put it oil' for a i 
arable time, but if I would not do this, he was just as willing 
to have the ceremony take place on the first of Trinity a- a 
fortnight later. Therefore that is to be the day, unless bin- 
derances should arise from a quarter with which we hav< 
thing to do. 

Pascal's strong unwillingness to part with his sister, 
made him eagerly seize every pretext for delay, and 
to this motive must be ascribed that opposition to her 
plans which he now offered. Not wishing to be a 
burden on the convent of Port Royal, which was far 
from rich, she desired to bring with her a dowry, and 
thought that her share of her father's property ought 
to furnish it. To this her family at first objected, and 
the high-spirited Jaqueline resented their non-com- 
pliance most keenly. The influence of those false 
views of life and duty, the result of her education in 
an apostate Church, which led her to break off from 
all her associates, to bury every talent she had receiv- 
ed, and to forsake the kindred dear as her own soul, 
made her unable to sympathise with their sorrow at 
losing her, or to brook their efforts to hold her back. 
Her sufferings from wounded affection were therefore 
severe, though perhaps in some degree unreasonable, 

d'Andilly. The younger brothers in a French family ofteu take the 
name of some estate belonging to the family, to distinguish them from 
the elder brother, who takes simply the family name. 



134 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

especially as her brother yielded to her wishes re- 
specting the property on finding that her being por- 
tionless would not prevent her from taking the veil. 
Jaqueline afterwards explained the details of this affair 
in a Narrative written for the purpose of making 
known the disinterestedness of Port Eoyal, and ad- 
dressed to the Prioress. Its great length prevents the 
transfer of more than a few paragraphs to these pages. 
She says, after having excused herself for writing at 
all: 

. . . . My resolution, which they thought so unkind, 
gave my friends a fine chance of moralizing over the instability 
of human affection. Had they stopped there, all would have 
been well, and their minds might have been occupied without 
disturbing mine, but there they did not stop. Each wrote to 
me in the same style, not saying that they felt aggrieved, but 
treating me as if they did, and responding to my propositions 
by an exact statement of my affairs, whereby it appeared that 
the nature of my property must prevent me from disposing 
of it under any circumstances, or in favor of any person what 
ever, partly because of an agreement made at its division, that 
all claims upon the estate should be settled from the property 
as a whole, and partly from other disingenuous reasons, which 
had my friends been less irritated, they would doubtless never 
have named. Not that these reasons were actually untrue, 
but they were such as we had never been accustomed to use 

with one another Just think, my dear mother, 

how these letters made me feel ! written in a style so changed, 
and imposing on me besides the positive necessity of either 
deferring my profession as a nun some four years longer, in 
order to obtain the release of my property from the liens that 
held it in security for the re" ^ Hinder of the estate, and per- 



THE NOVICE. 135 

Imps, after all, not being able to free it entirely, or on the 
other hand having to endure the in<>rtili<-ution of being receiv- 
ed into the Convent gratuitously, and remaining a burden 
upon it. My grief became so violent, thai it Beems wonderful 
I ever lived through it. Mother Agnes sent for me as soon 
as she heard that I was in sorrow, and discovering that what 
afflicted me most was the apparent necessity of either giving 
up the cherished hope of many years, or of effecting it in a 
manner so painful to me, she tried to console me by Baying 
that things eternal ought alone to awaken emotion ; that 
temporal misfortunes are never irreparable and do not deserve 
our tears, which should be reserved for the only true evil — 
sin, but require us, when they come, instead of wasting our 
time in sorrow, to set about devising the readiest means of 
relief; adding, with her usual kindness, that my troubles 
would bo soon and easily ended, if her advice were followed, 
for leaving all my worldly affairs as they were, my sole care 
would then be, to begin my cloistered life with a calm spirit. 

"We may not always be able," said she, "to obtain the 
privilege of being poor ; but we are always safe in wishing 
for and delighting in it, and in rejoicing over every event that 
tends to impoverish us. "When we are in prosperity, we 
should tremble and mourn over it as a snare and a hinderance 
to piety and lowliness of heart; and we ought not only to re- 
joice when the wealth to which we are entitled is kept from 
us, but also when that which we did possess is snatched away, 
since we are thus relieved from its responsibility." 

In fact, dear mother, her various arguments almost com- 
pelled me to rejoice over my affliction. Could I but have 
maintained that indifference, I should have become what she 
wished to see me. But I was too weak and sorrowful to be 
capable of such fortitude, and I acknowledge with shame that 
I soon relapsed into my former despondency. 

She afterwards directed me to inform M. Singlin of the 
whole affair, while she herself took the trouble of going to 



136 JAQTJELIXE PASCAL. 

relate it to our mother.* Coming immediately back, she 
brought me word that in our Mother's opinion it was my duty 
to leave my relatives to manage my whole fortune as they 
would, and think only of my approaching profession. 

At first M. Singlin did not entirely agree with her, for he 
feared that there might be too much generosity and too little 
humility in the advice. He forcibly said that " Avhen we have 
overcome that insatiable avarice of wealth which is almost 
universal, we ought to beware of falling into the opposite ex- 
treme, and becoming greedy of praise, and ostentatious of our 
generosity, while we despise those who still cling to their 
property. For if our distinction consists in being above the 
love of money, as that of others does in its possession, we are 
likely, without great watchfulness, to perform actions seem- 
ingly benevolent, but in reality prompted by the same princi- 
ple of pride which causes some men to contend too earnestly 
for their rights, and others to yield them too easily. In all 
cases of this nature, we ought to be neutral, and endeavor, 
unbiassed by personal interest, to ascertain what justice de- 
mands on both sides." 

However, upon reflection, he agreed with our Mother ; and 
seeing how strenuously I opposed their decision, for I could 
not bear to let things go in that way, he told me that he 
knew my friends well, and was sure they were reasonable peo- 
ple. Therefore, some misapprehension must undoubtedly have 
made them unreasonable upon this point, and it was to be 
hoped that when we were able to meet and talk matters over, 
they would of themselves act rightly by all parties, and thus 
I need not disquiet myself. .... There was nothing 

for me but submission to the course prescribed 

All I could do by way of lessening my mortification was to 
beg earnestly for admission as a lay-sister.f If my reception 

* Angelique, who -was then at Port Royal de Paris. 

\ The lay-sisters were eighteen in number, ten being employed in 

• convent of Paris, eight in tbat of Des Champs. They had no 



THE NOVICE. 137 

must be a gratuitous one, I thought that out of gratitude to 
the Sisterhood for the double favor of welcoming me without 
a dowry, I could do no less than serve them as ;i menial for 

the rest of my life But God, the Searcher of 

hearts, knew me to be unworthy of an office so honorable in 
His sight, and that my past and present pride needed a pun- 
ishment instead of a reward. lie, therefore, restrained If. 
Singlin from giving his consent. On examinatii >n my strength 
appeared insufficient for the duties of a Lay-aster, and as this 
would oblige me to take more rest than my companions, they 
might imagine I was indulged for other reasons, and since re- 
spect of persons is always hateful, and contrary to the spirit 
of love, which forbids distinctions to be made among sisters, 
my petition was absolutely refused, and I had to leave every- 
thing just as our Mother had arranged it. 

By order of M. Singlin, I wrote immediately to my friends, 
stating my decision in words which he chose to dictate, lest 
my own should be too warm. He made me use great discre- 
tion in my account of the charity which was willing to receive 
me as a professed nun, without any demur on the ground that 
my affairs needed supervision, and would allow no expressions 
which might seem like a bravado or a device to pique their 
sense of honor. 

This letter could not be short, and it kept me busy till 
evening, so that I did not see our Mother (Angelique). But 
on the next day, as was her custom after her returning from 
Port Royal de Paris, she sent for all the novices, and being 
there, when my turn came to salute her, I could not help 

vote, were selected for their bodily strength, and employed in hard 
work, such as cooking, baking, washing, taking care of cows and 
poultry, &c, but not in the service of the sick or infirm, lest they 
should be treated as inferiors, unless in case of emergency. Tbey 
were not required either to pray so often or fast so much as did the 
other nuns. The maxim, " Labor are est Or are" (Work is prayer), was 
often repeated to them. They wore a gray dress and scapulary, and 
a white veil. 



138 JAQTJELISE PASCAL. 

saying that I was the only sorrowful one among all the sisters 
Avho were delighted at her return. " What," said she, " is it 
possible, my daughter, that you are still sad ? "Were you not 
prepared for all you see ? Did you not long since learn that 
we should never lean on the friendship of creatures, and that 
the world only loves its own ? And is it not a happy thing 
that God makes this truth plain to you in the persons of 
those from whom you had least reason to expect such a les- 
son, and thus removes all doubt of it from your mind. . . . 
Your previous resolutions are thus braced by a sort of inevit- 
able necessity, and you may, in a certain sense, say that you 
are alone in the world." I answered, weeping, that I seemed 
to myself already so detached from it, as not to need such an 
experience. " God is showing you," said she, " that, in this 
thought you are mistaken. If it were so, you would look upon 
all that has occurred with indifference, and be very far from 
grieving as you now do. You ought, therefore, to feel that 
God is granting you a great favor, and to make good use of 
it." She also talked to me for some time on the emptiness of 
all human affection, keeping her arm round me with much 
tenderness, until I had to leave her and let others approach. 

Having noticed on the morrow that my looks were unusu- 
ally sad, she left the choir before mass began, and sending for 
me, did her best to give me comfort. Not content with this 
brief effort of kindness, as soon as mass was over she signed 
to me to follow her, and then supported my head on her 
bosom for a whole hour, caressing me the while with all a 
mother's tenderness. I can truly say that she omitted no- 
thing in her power that could charm away my distress. 
Would to God, dear mother, my mind had been clear and re- 
tentive enough to have preserved the precious cordials distilled 
by her in the hope of sweetening my heart's bitterness. Then 
were my affliction indeed a gain, and I might now give you 
a rich treat. Since all is not lost, I desire to preserve the 
little I do remember, by imparting it to you in this letter, as 



THE XOVIPE. 139 

a relic, none the less precious though it be but a fragment 
! from the great whole. 

at first said to me with a gentle Beverity, w I cannot 
wonder enough, ray daughter, to see you so overcome by a 
trifle. You so astonished me yesterday, by saying you were 
sad, that I <li«l not know how to answer you ; for I supposed, 
of course, that you had already forgotten the past, because 
things being settled as they are, you haw nothing further to 
do. I assure you that at firet 1 could not tell what you meant, 
and it took me some little time to guess, and to recall the 
whole affair to my mind." 

My dejection was not deep enough to keep me from se- 
cretly admiring her power to forgel BO soon, lhit 1, who 
was very far from possessing her ran- virtu.', could only an- 
swer her with tears; perceiving which, she anticipated the 
excuse I might have made, by saving : M Why do you weep 
over this thing ? Or else why do you not weep as much over 
every sin that is committed '. If you are thinking only of 
God's glory, and the spiritual welfare of your relations, why 
have you never shed as many tears over their graver faults 
and their more heinous guilt in the si| . as you now 

do over a slight failure in the kindness due to yourself?" 

I told her, what I believed was tun-, that it was the injus- 
tice done to the establishment that troubled mo, ami that per- 
sonally I was neither hurt nor angry, hut simply indifferent 
" You are mistaken, my daughter," -aid she, •• nothing is more 
painful or hard to hear than wounded affection. I know that 
you feel deeply the injustice done to the House, but your own 
share in this gives you a keener pang, for self-love mingles in 
evervthing we do, and is the main-spring of this mighty sor- 
row." 

She was then so good as to give me the details of several 
such histories, without mentioning names. I suppose this 
was done as much for the sake of affording me that species 
of comfort derivable from companionship in misery, as to 



140 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

convince me that we never take the interests of justice equally 
to heart when the injustice committed does not concern us, 
as when it does. On my admitting the truth of this, she 
continued, " This occurrence has been a source of real and 
not unfounded joy to me, and were the value of the property 
twice as much, I would not but have had the trial come upon 
you before your taking the veil, because, while a probationer, 
you have not been sufficiently tried. You see, my sister, that 
it was an easy thing for you to renounce the world, God hav- 
ing enabled you to perceive how vain and trifling are the 
amusements and gaieties of life, which please and fascinate 
other girls, — not that you were better than they, but that God 
had given you greater grace. And certainly you were very 
much detached from earth, but there yet remained two things 
for you to relinquish, of which you had not thought. One 
was your fortune, small indeed in a worldly point of view, but 
ample for a nun, whose expenses are next to nothing. The 
other, and the chief treasure of your family, was the close 
union and confidence which made all your interests one, and 
on this you were unconsciously reposing. God sees fit to strip 
you of both, and to make you poor in every sense of the 
word, poorer even in friendship than in possessions, for these 
you were prepared to renounce. 

" You see, my sister," she went on, " that whatever is done 
to gratify a recluse, seems thrown away. . . . There is a 
short story in the lives of the Fathers which illustrates this. 
A man of the world once went to visit his brother, who, after 
having long lived the life of a saint, had retired into solitude. 
He was greatly astonished to find him eating at the hour of 
nones, because formerly he fasted until vespers. The an- 
chorite, perceiving this, said to him : ' Marvel uot, my brother, 
this meal is a necessity and not an indulgence. In the world 
I needed it not, for my ears fed me : the praises earned by 
my austerities made me so comfortable in mind, that my body 
was strengthened, and I could, if needful, have borne twice 



THE NOVICE. 141 

as much. But here — there is nobody to speak a word, my 
self-love has nothing to feed upon, and I am forced, in Bpite 
of myself, to satisfy the cravings of nature, Bince there ia no 
other satisfaction to be had.' 

" Persons living in the world feel inclined to oblige one an- 
other because they are rewarded by gratitude and praise, but 
to render service to a recluse is quite another thing. 
up your mind, therefore, to retain no friends in the world after 
you have left it, and to expect no great proofs of personal re- 
gard." 

Among many instances that she related to me of cases like 
mine within her own knowledge, was one in which the rela- 
tions of a young lady of rank, after she had taken the veil, 
failed, most unexpectedly to her, in fulfilling their promises 
touching her dowry, which ought to have been large, and this 
at a time when the convent was in great need. " I assure 
you," said she, "that this injustice surprised and grieved me 
much ; for I had looked upon the thing as certain, judging 
from the manner in which the parties had always acted 
towards us. However, the late M. de St. Cyran advised me 
to endure this hardship, for it really was one, so calmly and 
patiently as not even to mention the subject to the delinquents, 
nor to show that 1 felt in the least hurt, but to behave as if I 
had forgotten it. And with a firm faith in Providence, he as- 
sured me that if I did so, God would in some other way pro- 
vide for our wants, and make up the loss. God," added she, 
"helped me to believe this, and to follow his advice, which, 
indeed, I never felt at liberty to disregard, and, as you see, I 
have since found the promise verified by perpetual experience. 
I, therefore, entreat you, my daughter, not to feel angry with 
your friends, not to manifest any resentment, or suffer this to 
alienate your affection from them. After all, for what are you 
contending? Only a little lucre, absolutely less than nothing! 
True, as we cannot live without money, it is difficult to dis- 
pense with it entirely, but then it rarely happens that we are 



142 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

so destitute as to be in actual want; and luxuries we are for- 
bidden to covet. "When God sends us money in a legitimate 
way, we may receive it as a means of support, but when He 
does not send it, and even when he allows us to be deprived 
of it, truly we ought to rejoice. M. de St. Cyran used to say, 
that in this world riches, like bodily humors, always settle in the 
weakest and most easily injured spot. I want you to remember 
this, because you are young, and may at some future day wit- 
ness similar events to those now occurring in your own case ; 
and if you should ever be consulted in a like emergency, you 
will know what to advise, and can do as you have been clone 
by. Therefore, write to your frieuds once more," she went on, 
"especially to her whose tenderness for you is deepest, express 
your own affection without reserve, and let them see that you 
have, in all sincerity, given up your fortune from the sole fear 
of paining them, without any after regret. And when he 
(meaning Pascal), who is shortly expected here, comes, speak 
to him iu the same way ; do not reproach him, nor even look 
as if aught were amiss, but appear to have forgotten all, which 
you really ought long ago to have done, and I supposed you 
had, so that it quite surprises me to find you disturbed by an 
affair so trivial." 

She was then silent for a brief space ; and I took occasion 
to say that one of my great vexations was a fear that the 
money formerly at my disposal had been misspent, owing to 
my not giving it away with sufficient discrimination, because 
at the time I expected to have enough for all claims, and now 
I felt self- convicted of having been too hasty, to say the least. 

" Do not fret about that," said she, " for if you had it to do 
over again, I do not think that you could in conscience give 
less under the circumstances than you have given. You know 
that in this matter* you regarded the will of God and the 
welfare of one dearer to you than the world's wealth, and that 

* This refers to the property which Jaqueline had previously 
transferred to her brother. 



THE NOVICE. 143 

you did not give him the money in order to aggrandize him 
,,i- to render his position more brilliant ; for with all that you 
have done for him, he has barely enough t<» keep up an ap- 
pearance befitting bra station. What ground, then, have you 
for fearing that your money was squandered! Bow could 
you do less : Even were it true," proceeded Bhe with admira- 
ble kindness, " which, as I have told you, it is not, that you 
had been hasty and extravagant, and mads a dead lot 
your money, then your regret should be calmed by remember- 
ing that you could not possibly meet with a loss of lesa im- 
portance For you see, ray sister, every external and perisha- 
ble advantage is in reality valueless; and the loss of the least 

particle of God's grace is of i e consequence in lli> Bight 

than the loss of all the world's wealth, use it as we may. 
God neither needs our possessions, nor carea for them. The 
grace He implants within ns is the only true riches, and we 
ought often to ask ourselves whether we are employing this 
for our own good and that of others. This, however, 
dom think of, grieving but little, or not at all, over a failure 
iu our usual meekness, or gentleness, or any other Christian 
grace, and having all our scruples aroused if we have mis- 
spent a small sum of money, though this is the 
of all those for -which we must give account. But the favor 
of God and the graces of His Holy Spirit are treasures in- 
deed; and if we are careful not to lose or misimprove them, 
will be forever serviceable to others as well as to ourseh 

" Xow forget all that is past, and speak and write as if 
nothing had occurred, merely telling your friends that you 
will confirm your resignation in their favor. And you must 
do this in all sincerity, avoiding the appearance either of a 
spirit of pride, as if you had been more generous than they, 
or of a wish to coax them into obliging you, for if our ac- 
tions do not arise from love, they are worthless. You must 
seek to be influenced by a wish for peace, especially with her* 

* Madame Perier. 



144 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

whom you know to be very sensitive, and likely to take the 
idea of your displeasure much to heart. 

The event proved the wisdom of this counsel. Pas- 
cal soon afterwards visited Port Koyal, and perceiving 
his sister's dejection, at once tried to remove it by of- 
fering to make arrangements for endowing the Con- 
vent with the usual pension, assuming all the risks 
and charges of the estate himself, and releasing Jaque- 
line. This was ot course a great relief to her feelings, 
and after describing the interview, she goes on to say : 

There was no time lost in trying to persuade him to in- 
crease the amount, for I was ordered so expressly, and with so 
absolute an authority to make his will my law, that I no more 
dared to stir in the affair than as if it had not concerned 
me It was an admirable thing to see the differ- 
ence in the conduct of each, careful as they all were to act in 
conformity with God's will, and the perfect law of love. Our 
mother, (Angelique,) naturally caring for the interests of the 
Convent, was anxious that no shade of meanness, avarice, or 
self-seeking should be mingled with the affair. M. Singlin 
not only shared her zeal for the House, but felt compassion- 
ately for my relatives, some of whom are under his guidance, 
while all cherish for him the highest esteem. Mother Agnes, 
on the other hand, busied herself solely with the endeavor to 
have me, as a novice under her charge, profit by what was 
passing, and lose no opportunity of exercising the patience, 
humility and forbearance so repugnant to human nature. 

On the eve of my profession, for which the day had long 
been fixed, irrespective of the state of my affairs, the papers 
were all ready and only waiting to be signed. I begged our 
mother to go down for that purpose to the parlor, but, being 



THE NOVICE. 146 

quite indisposed, she was unable to go ; and, strange to say, 
this seemed to give her pleasure, " because," said she, " the 
ceremony of signing may now be deferred till after you have 
taken the veil, and tlien your brother need do nothing but 
of his own free-will, or from motives of pure charity." .... 
When I informed my brother of this, the men of business 
who accompanied him were excessively surprised, and declared 
that such conduct was very rare, <fce. My brother, who had 
long known the ways of Port Royal, was less surprised, but 
he wished for no delay, and showed that he gave the little 
he had to give freely, by returning on the morrow, when our 
mother, being in better health, could not excuse herself from 
seeing him. He told me afterwards that she had said to 
him with extraordinary emphasis, that she could not tell 
whether I had acted in this matter as she bade me. " And 
lest she may not," continued our mother, " I feel bound to 
entreat you, sir, in God's name, not to let any earthly con- 
sideration influence you, and if you do not feel that the spirit 
of charity prompts you to this deed of charity, to leave it 
undone. You see, sir, that M. de St. Cyran taught us to ac- 
cept nothing for the House of God, which does not come from 
Him. Alms given from other motives are not the work of 
His Holy Spirit, and therefore we have no wish to receive 
them." In reply, he said everything that was polite and 
proper, but would not agree to any delay, and thus the affair 
ended. 

After this, our mother, on meeting me, said that all was 
settled, and I need not torment myself any longer. Then 
drawing me aside, she added very seriously that it had really 
troubled her to see me so anxious to have my brother act lib- 
erally, and so annoyed when I fancied that he did not. " I 
fear, my daughter," she said, very kindly, " that you have 
thereby offended God. I beg you to reflect on this, and also 
t< consider that you have in fact no reason to complain of 
j or brother, who has given largely, both in proportion to 
7 



146 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

bis means, and when compared with many others. I on!} 
wish you knew what an advantage is usually taken of a spirit 
of disinterestedness, it is incredible ; but it ought not to make, 
us neglect our own duty." 

Jaqueline closes her tale by entreating the Prioress 
to forgive the appearance of her letter, " full as it is 
of scratches, blots, omissions, and other blunders" oc- 
casioned by the interruptions to which, in her occupa- 
tion of teaching the Novices, she v r as subject, in these 
terms : 

I would gladly write it over again, out of respect to you ; 
but it is doubtful if I could ever find leisure, for I am never 
able to write above two dozen lines, and often not more than 
five or six, without being interrupted by some question, un- 
important, it is true, but quite capable of disturbing such a 
weak brain as mine, and causing me to spoil whatever I have 

in hand And I must tax your kindness still 

further by asking you to intercede before God, that the many 
sins committed by me in this affair may be blotted out, es- 
pecially my neglect of so much good advice, .... lest 
the privileges intended for my salvation should serve only to 
condemn me, and the consolations by which God has designed 
to dry my tears, should witness against my unfaithfulness.* 

* Her postcript is both curious and characteristic : " I thought, 
dear mother, that there was no further apology to be made, but I for- 
got to mention that the gilt-edged paper I have used was found in 
a casket left me by a friend, and since it is the only relic of worldli- 
ness I possess, at least externally, I think it ought to be devoted to 
God's service, and that the best way of doing this is by using it to 
commemorate a charity of which He is the source. Although I can 
b>;t dimly shadow forth the love of which I have been the recipient, 
I feel that it deserves to be recorded in letters of blood, rather than on 
gilt-ecUred sheets." 



THE NOVICE. 147 

Margaret Pcricr says of her aunt : " Although the 
customs of Port Eoyal required a year's probation be- 
fore the veil could be taken, yet four months alter her 
entrance she was allowed to become a Novice." 
Thenceforward she bore the name of Jaqueline de 
Ste. Euphemie, and her world was bounded by the 
convent walls. 

No details of the ceremony, which took place in 
May, 1652, have been preserved, but it was probably 
conducted in strict accordance with the formula pre- 
scribed in the Constitutions, which allowed very few 
persons to be present when a novice took the veil, 
and forbade all attempts to excite public interest by 
the theatrical display common among Eomanists on 
such occasions. It was desired that the dress of the 
candidates should be of inexpensive materials, and 
simply made. Pearls and other ornaments were pro- 
hibited, and instead of the usual entire severance of 
the Novice's hair, the Abbess only cut off a little from 
the ends, in order that, if the former should afterwards 
repent of her consecration, and wish to quit the con- 
vent, she need not be deterred from re-entering society 
by a feeling of shame at the loss of that feminine 
adornment. , 



fool's Crritiuoictu 

In the course of the year 1653, Madame Perier had 
a dangerous illness, from which it was at one time 
supposed that she could not recover. In this distress- 
ing conjuncture, the Sister Sainte Euphemie addressed 
a letter to her brother-in-law and his suffering wife, 
full of affection and sorrow, yet carrying her own de- 
vout resignation almost to the pitch of rejoicing over 
her sister's illness, and urging M. Perier to improve 
the occasion by completely consecrating himself to 
God. To do this, in her belief, implied the necessity 
of separating from his wife, if she lived, of giving up 
his secular employments, and becoming a recluse like 
herself. She says : — 

July 31, 1653. 
I write to you both, if God permit the letter to find you 
both* in a state to read it, which, after your note of the 24th, 
I scarcely dare to hope. You can imagine the state of my 
own feelings ; I do not pretend to express them, for it would be 
useless. But I think it my duty, in this extremity, to render 
all the assistance I can, both to my sister and yourself. I 
pray for you as often as possible, and our Mothers have fre- 

* Madame Perier was then very ill, and expecting the birth of her 
son, Blaise Perier. 



pascal's conversion. 149 

quently reminded the sisterhood to commend her case to God ; 
so that she may be very sure we do not forget her. In feet, 
they are only too kind to every one here, and especially to 
her. But I believe that the most efficacious manner of plead" 
ing, by which we may best deserve to have the prayers of 
our forefathers come up in remembrance before God, is to 
prove our own fidelity to her at this important juncture. I 
speak, in the deepest grief and feeling, as if there were no 
hope at all, though I have no doubt that the worst news would 
produce totally different emotions, should God see fit to con- 
summate our affliction. This obliges me to say, that we can- 
not have a better opportunity of testing whether we possess 
real faith, for God appears to be requiring us to hope that in 
this solemn hour He will have mercy upon my sister, since He 
graciously inclined her heart to seek and serve Him in h-r 
days of health. This thought alone can sweeten the bitter 
cup, for we must neither expect nor desire her to stifle all the 
feelings of nature. But, I think she ought so far to moderate 
them as not to pray for life herself, though, for the sake of 
you and her children, I cannot help asking that she may be 
spared, — and yet when I remember that our own mother was 
removed from us when we were much younger than they are, 
and under circumstances more trying than theirs could be, 
and that God notwithstanding, did not forsake us, but proved 
Himself the Father of the orphan and the Comforter of the 
afflicted, I feel that, instead of setting ourselves in array against 
His decrees, we are bound to place ourselves and all that we 
hold dear in His hands. 

Your children are more His than ours ; let us not fear that 
He will abandon those whom we have given up to Him ; and 
as for yourself, I certainly believe that if God should deprive 
you of so great a treasure, it would only be to draw you more 
closely to Himself. * * * And if it please Him to grant 
this blessing to my dear sister in preference to ourselves, why 
should we oppose her happiness ? I see none to be found in 



150 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

this world except in retirement, and in giving up all things 
for the sake of serving God ; but even this is not to be com- 
pared with the full possession of God, and the certainty of 
never losing that felicity. Let us therefore repress to the 
best of our power all those natural emotions which are con- 
trary to the spirit of faith and submission, and as neither ef- 
fort nor wish on our part can alter the decrees of God, let us 
do willingly what we must do if He has so ordained it. God 
knows that I love my sister more beyond comparison than 
when we were both in the world, and yet it seemed to me 
then that nothing could increase the affection I felt for her ; 
but whereas at that time my chief wishes and anxieties were 
for her life, which always had been and still is dearer to me 
than my own, they now relate to her salvation. Therefore, 
violent as my grief is, and though I am continually in dread 
of hearing the fatal news, trembling so that I can scarcely 
stand if any one looks as though he were going to speak to 
me, yet, when I take into account the misery and dangers of 
this present life, especially for a person immersed in worldly 
occupations, I cannot but accuse myself of selfishly desiring 
my own benefit rather than hers, and so my most earnest 
prayers to God are, that the infant may be an heir of grace, 
and that the mother's illness may be sanctified, that she may 
be weaned from earth, and forget the things she must quit, in 
contemplating the blessedness awaiting her, which ought to 
fill her whole soul, and leave no room for any other thought. 
If her sickness will not permit this, let us, I beseech you, do 
it for her, and declare before God with heart and lip, that 
there is nothing upon earth which we desire for ourselves, or 
for those yet dearer to us, besides His favor. 

I daily implore Him, in my sorrow, that He would enable 
you and me to prove our entire fidelity to Him in this season 
of trial. My dear brother, we may never have such another ; 
let us not endure it without yielding the fruit which God re- 
quires at our hands. I think He looks for more than com- 



PASCAL'S CONVERSION. 151 

mon resignation from us, and that unless wo are ungrateful 
for ills goodness to the dear patient for so many years, wo 
ought not to bo satisfied with merely allowing him I 
back His loan, instead of cheerfully offering it up, and rej 
that she should receive the reward of the Bervice she had long 
striven to render Him. Tray for me, as I do for you, that we 
may have grace so to act. God is near to the afflicted, and 
ready to hear their cry. I therefore beseech you also to male 
supplication for my poor brother, that this trial may be the 
means of winning him back to God, and causing him to see 
the emptiness of everything earthly. We, as well as nrfy 
dear sister, have reason to bless God for having made this 
plain to him, and through him to us all, long before we 
taught it by experience. I trust thai i will so faint 

in the day of adversity as to forget this special favor, or if it 
be graven deeply in our memories, that God will not suffer us 
ungratefully to refuse to cherish the hope it warrants, nor the 
consolation it affords. 

Do not wonder that I write as if recovery were hopeless. 
It has been, as I have told you, my conviction from the first, 
and though I do not give way as I should, if certain of the 
fact, on the other hand, I dare not hope, lest the blow may 
fall more heavily. May God strengthen us all, and implant 
in our hearts a vigorous faith, so that we may look upon the 
departure of our beloved ones as a voyage to Heaven. They 
may have got the start of us by a few moments, but we shall 
be enabled to imitate them now, and follow them hereafter. 
Let us beware of complaining when God deprives us of what 
Ave most prize, instead of thanking Him for having lent it so 
long. Tell my sister, however she may suffer, to remember 
the beautiful saying of M. de St. Cyran, "The sick should 
look upon their bed as an altar whereon they continually offer 
up to God the sacrifice of their life, for Him to accept at His 
pleasure ;" and another, " The pains, and various accompani- 
ments of sickness are noises that serve to warn the virgins of 



152 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

the bridegroom's approach." Let her hope to go in with Him 
to that blessed marriage, since she has neither suffered her 
lamp to become extinct by quitting the ways of God from the 
time of her entrance on them, nor has she bought oil from 
those who sell, by listening to the flatteries of false guides, but 
has faithfully preserved the true oil of grace, shed abroad in 
her heart by God's Holy Spirit. Tell her she must not cease 
to pray for me, that God would be merciful to me, and speedily 
call me home from exile, if it is for His glory ; not forgetting 
my brother, the Church, and the land, for God hears the 
prayer of the sick, especially when, as in her case, they belong 
entirely to Him. 

Although Jaqueline, happily, did not succeed in 
convincing M. Perier that he was in duty bound to 
shut himself up in solitude, yet her prayers and efforts 
were soon after rewarded by the conversion of one 
even dearer and nearer to her heart than he. The 
year 1654 is famous in the history of Port Eoyal, as 
the epoch of Blaise Pascal's final withdrawal from 
worldly society. 

"In the case of twins," says Dr. Eeuchlin, "it is 
frequently observable that the death of one is soon 
followed by that of the other. Blaise Pascal and Ja- 
queline were twins in soul; and when the former 
strove to prevent his sister's complete identification 
with Port Eoyal, he was in reality struggling for the 
right of his own independence. For when Jaqueline 
had given up her personal freedom and the control of 
her own will to others, this complete death to self on 
her part, involved the forfeiture of her brother's life 



pascal's conversion. 153 

in the world, and her influence speedily drew him into 
the charmed circle of monastic seclusion." But boyr, 
it may be asked, could Pascal, himself the firsl of bis 
family to enter upon a life of devotion to God, and 
the instrument of Jaqueline's own conversion, require 
her persuasions to urge him forward in what they 
both believed to be the way of holiness ? Margaret 
Perier, in her Memoirs, thus explained the fact : 

"In consequence of my uncle's miserable state of 
health, the physicians had to interdict all mental 
effort ; but a disposition so lively and energetic as his 
could not long remain idle. When he was no longer 
busied in scientific pursuits, or in religious studies re- 
quiring close application, he felt the need of amuse- 
ment, and this drove him into company, where he 
played cards, and joined in other diversions. At first 
he did so in moderation, but by degrees his taste for 
society increased, and though his life was never in the 
least vicious or irregular, it gradually became gay, 
frivolous, and useless. After my grandfather's death, 
the mastery of his own property gave him greater free- 
dom, and he plunged more and more into the world, 
till at length he made up his mind to follow the com- 
mon routine of life, to purchase some office and to marry. 

" He laid his plans accordingly, but consulting with 
my aunt, who was a nun, and felt deeply grieved at 
beholding him, who first convinced her of the vanity 
of worldly things, again enthralled by them, she fre- 
quently advised him to renounce his projected engage- 



154 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

ments. He listened, but went on with his plans, until 
on the Festival of the Virgin's conception, God per- 
mitted him to make my aunt a visit, and to stay with 
her in the convent parlor, during the repetition of 
nones before sermon. When the church-bell stopped 
ringing, she left him, and he went into church to hear 
the sermon, not knowing that God awaited him there. 
The subject of the sermon was the commencement of 
a Christian life, and the importance of holiness, the 
danger of forming secular or matrimonial engagements 
from motives of habit, fashion, or worldly prudence, 
the duty of seeking direction from God in all such 
matters, and of examining whether they would be 
likely to prove hinderances to salvation. The preacher 
was in the pulpit when my uncle went into church, 
therefore he knew that my aunt could not have spoken 
to him ; and as his own state and disposition were de- 
lineated with great earnestness and soundness of argu- 
ment, he became deeply affected, for he felt that the 
discourse was addressed to him by God, and received 
it as a message to his own soul. My aunt did all she 
could to fan the new flame, and in a few days my uncle 
resolved to break off from the world entirely. With 
this intention he went into the country, in order to 
familiarize himself with his future mode of life, and 
to cease paying and receiving a general course of 
visits. In this he succeeded so well, that from that 
time forward he had no more intercourse with his for- 
mer worldly acquaintance." 



PASCAL'S CONVERSION. 155 

The details of Pascal's conversion are given in two 
letters from Jaqueline to 'Madame Perier, and in one 
to Blaise himself, in which she appears to have some 
misgivings concerning the character of her brother's 
piety, as being more buo}^ant and mirthful, than M. de 
Saci, his confessor, was likely to approve. 

TO MADAME PERIER. 

December 8, 1654. 

It is not right that you should be ignorant any longer of 
what God has wrought in the heart of one so dear to us ; but 
I wish you to learn it from himself, in order that your every 
doubt may be done away. All that I have now time to tell 
you is, that God has graciously given him a great wish to be 
completely devoted to His service, though in what mode of 
life is not yet determined. For more than a year he has 
felt a thorough contempt for the world, and an almost insup- 
portable disgust for its votaries, aud yet though his excitable 
temper would naturally lead him to extremes, he behaves with 
a moderation that encourages me to hope for good. He has 
put himself under M. Singlin's direction, I trust with a child- 
like submission, if the latter will receive him ; for he has not 
yet consented, but I think in the end he will not refuse. 

Though his health is worse than it has been for a long 
time, it does not in the least affect his resolution, which 
shows that the reasons he formerly urged were only a pretence. 
I perceive in him a humility and submission, even towards 
myself, which astonishes me. I have now no more to add, 
except that it is evident another spirit than his own is striv- 
ing within him. Farewell : let all this be kept secret, even 
from him. I am yours entirely, 

Sister Euphemie. 



156 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

TO II. PASCAL. 

January 19th, 1655. 
My very dear Brother, 

It gives me as much delight to find you cheerful in 
solitude as it used to give me pain, when I saw you immersed 
in the gaieties of the world. I hardly know, however, how 
M. de Saci* gets along with a penitent so full of happiness, 
who, instead of expiating his former share in worldly vanities 
and amusements by unceasing tears, has only relinquished 
them for more rational enjoyments, and more allowable play 
of fancy. For my part, I think your penance very moderate 
indeed, and there are few people who would not envy it. 
But if M. de Saci is satisfied, so am I, for I think him wor- 
thy of the same deference that you have for our Mother 
Agnes. She has not mentioned to me the subject on which 
you asked her advice, so it is not she, but I who tell you to 
be wiser in future ; and in this I think her spirit inspires 
me, which I would to God were always the case. And in 
order to edify you more by example than precept, I herewith 
put an end to the wilful nonsense of this letter. Your eager 
desire to renounce every semblance of worldly distinction is 
very praiseworthy, and I can only wonder that God enables 
you to feel it, for it seems to me that you have deserved in 
more ways than one, to be annoyed for some time - to come 
by the smell of the mire which you have clung to so fondly. 
It would be but just, if you were to be still fettered by 
worldly habits, after fleeing to the wilderness, since you chose 
to keep aloof from the means of deliverance so long. But 
God has in this respect shown you that His mercy is greater 
than all His other attributes, and I pray that He will continue 
His work, and teach yoii to use the talents He has bestowed 
on you aright. 

* Who had received Pascal, from the hands of M. Singlin, as his 
confessor. 



pascal's conversion. 157 

The same must be said of your wooden spoon and earthen 
platter, about which you wrote ma These are the gold and 
precious stones of Christianity, and none but princes should 
have them on their tables : we must be duly poor inspirit, 
if we would deserve such an honor, which, according to M. 
de Renti,* ought to be denied to common folks. My only 
comfort is, that this kind of kingship not being hereditary, it 
may be acquired after a long period of neglect, as well as 
lost after long possession. One of the best methods of ob- 
taining it, according to my idea, is to act as if it were already 
our own ; not indeed through usurpation or hypocrisy, but in 
order that we may proceed from outward impoverishment to 
poverty of soul, from bodily humiliation to real humility. 
God give us grace so to do ! 

I was before you in the discovery that health depends more 
on our Saviour than on the maxims of Hippocrates. Spiritual 
regimen soon cures bodily ailments, unless God sees fit to try 
and to strengthen us by means of sickness. Certainly it is a 
great privilege to have sufficient health of body, enabling us 
to do what is enjoined upon us for the cure of our souls ; 
but it is none the less a privilege to take chastisement from 
God's own hand. If we are His, we must always be well, 
whether living or dying. "We are not told, " If any one will 
come after me," let him perform very painful tasks, that call 
for great strength, but, " Let him deny himself." It is pps- 
sible that a sick person may do this better than one in perfect 
health. 

TO MADAME PERIER. 

Poet Royal, January 25, 1655. 
My vert dear Sister, 

It is difficult to tell if your impatience to receive 
intelligence of the person you know (Pascal) has been greater 

* The Marquis de Renti, famous for his piety, and whose memoir 
was translated for the use of his own people by the celebrated and 
excellent John Wesley. 



158 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

than mine to communicate it; yet as I had no time to waste, 
I was afraid to write too soon, lest I might have to unsay 
what I had prematurely told you. But now, things are in 
such a train that you ought to know it, let the result be, by 
God's good pleasure, what it may. 

It would, I think, be doing you an injustice if I did not 
relate the whole story from the beginning, which was some 
days before I sent you the first news ; that is, towards the 
close of September last. He came to see me then, and during 
the visit, opened his heart to me in such a way that I felt a 
deep pity for him, acknowledging that in the midst of his oc- 
cupations, which were numerous, and of a nature to excite in 
him a love for this world, to which every one had cause to 
think him greatly attached, he still felt admonished to leave 
it altogether. That, by reason of his aversion for the follies 
and amusements of life, and the constant reproaches of con- 
science, he found himself in a state of detachment from the 
world, which he had never even approached before ; but that, 
on the other hand, God seemed to have entirely forsaken 
him, and he experienced no longings after God, much as he 
desired to feel them. But this desire he knew was not the 
work of the Holy Spirit, for his own mind and reason prompted 
him to covet earnestly the things which he was convinced 
were most desirable. That, weaned as he now was from 
earth, he would shrink from no enterprise, did he but have 
the feelings towards God he once had ; and that the bonds 
formerly binding him to this world must have been horribly 
strong, or he could never have so resisted the grace of God 
and the strivings of the Holy Spirit. 

This confession gave me great surprise and delight, and 
from that time I began to hope forhim as I had never done 
before, so that I thought it my duty to write you on the sub- 
ject, that he might have the benefit of your prayers. If I 
were to describe his other visits as minutely, I should fill a 
volume, for they were afterwards so frequent and long, that 



PASCAL'S CONVERSION. 159 

tny sole employment seemed to be listening to him, and 
watching his progress, without attempting to persuade him in 
the least. I have seen him gradually growing in grace till 
he no longer seems the same being, and you will Bee it also, 
if God carries on the work, more especially as he inci . 
in humility, submission, self-distrust and self-abhorrene 
the wish to sink out of the esteem and memory of man. Such 
is his present state of mind. God only can foresee what it 
will become. To resume. There were many visits and many 
conflicts with himself on the subject of choosing a spiritual 
guide. He did not question the necessity of a guidance ; but 
although the person best suited to him was already found, and 
he could not bear to think of any one besides, yet his self- 
distrust made him fearful lest his very partiality might lead 
him astray, not indeed in regard to the qualifications of a 
confessor, about which, in this case, there could be no doubt, 
but in selecting one wdio was not his own natural pastor. I 
saw clearly enough that this hesitation only arose from the in- 
dependence yet lingering in his soul, which caught at any ex- 
cuse for avoiding the complete subjection to which he was 
fast tending. But I did not choose to influence him, and 
merely said that I thought it was our duty to select the best 
physicians we could find, both for soul and body. That the 
bishop was unquestionably our proper confessor, but that since 
the Bishop of Paris could not possibly guide all the inhab- 
itants of his diocese, and even his vicars, or parish priests, if 
they were capable, would find it an overwhelming task, a per- 
son like himself, having no establisment, and being at liberty 
to take up his residence in any parish he chose, was certainly 
able to choose his own confessor. I added that the Bishop 
of Geneva (Francois de Sales), in advising us to select a direct- 
or of ten thousand, meaning one whom we prefer above ten 
thousand others, did not, though himself a bishop, and very 
zealous for the hierarchy, pretend to limit any person's choice 
within the bounds of his parish. I cannot now remember 



160 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

whether this convinced him, or whether grace, visibly in- 
creasing- day by day, dissipated the clouds that had darkened 
so promising a commencement, without the aid of argument; 
but at length his mind was made up. But our task was not 
over yet, M. Singlin needed much persuasion to induce him to 
accept the office, for he had a great dread of such undertak- 
ings. However, he could not resist our urgent entreaties not 
to permit a work of such evident sincerity and promise to 
perish for lack of aid ; and he so far yielded to my impor- 
tunities as to be willing to take upon him the charge in ques- 
tion, although in consequence of a long-continued infirmity, 
he cannot speak without great pain. Meanwhile, many things 
occurred, too long and unimportant to be repeated here ; the 
principal event being that our young convert came of his own 
accord to the conclusion, that a temporary withdrawal from 
home would be very serviceable to him on many accounts. 
M. Singlin was then at Port Royal des Champs for the benefit 
of his health ; and therefore, although he (Pascal) was terribly 
afraid of having it known that he held communication with 
any one in the convent save myself, he nevertheless resolved to 
go thither under pretext that business called him into the 
country. By changing his name, leaving his servants in some 
neighboring village, and proceeding on foot to M. Singlin, he 
hoped that no one else would recognize him or discover his 
object ; and that he might thus effect a temporary retreat. I 
advised him not to take such a step without consulting M. 
Singlin, who, on his part, forbade it altogether, not having yet 
decided to become his confessor, so that he had to wait pa- 
tiently for the latter's return, as he did not wish to do any- 
thing in opposition to the orders given him by M. Singlin, in 
a very beautiful letter, wherein he constituted me as his (Pas- 
cal's) directress until God made his own duty plain either to 
accept the confessorship or not. When M. de Singlin at length 
returned, I entreated him to release me from my dignity, and 
•lid so much that I obtained my desire, and he took the di- 



pascal's conversion. 161 

rection upon himself. They then both thought it would be 
best for him to make a trip into the country for the sake of 
being more alone than he could be in town, because his par- 
ticular friend* had returned, and took up nearly all his 
time. 

Accordingly, ho made him his confidant, obtained his con- 
sent, which was not yielded without tears, and set out on the 
morrow after the festival of the Epiphany with M. de Luines, 
intending to stay in one of the hitter's houses ; and he has 
now remained there for some time. But not being BO much 
alone as he wished, he has procured a room, or rather a cell 
among the recluses of Port Royal, and thence he writes me 
that he finds himself extremely happy, being lodged and 
treated like a prince, but a prince of St. Bernard's stamp, 
dwelling in a lonely spot, where the profession of poverty is 
carried out to the utmost extent that discretion will allow. lie 
is present at every service from prime to complines, and does 
not find the least inconvenience in rising at five o'clock. It 
seems to be God's will, also, that he should fast as well as 
watch, though in so doing he must defy all medical rules, 
which forbid him to do either, for his supper begins to give 
him pain in the chest, and I think he will leave oft* taking it. 
He will not miss his directress. M. Singlin, who has remained 
in town during the whole time, having provided him a con- 
fessor,! with whom he was not before acquainted, a man be- 
yond praise, who has completely charmed him, and is, more- 
over, of a good race. He (Pascal) was not at all weary there, 
but some business forced him, against his wish, to return ; 
and in order not to lose what he had gained, he has obtained 
a room here, and lodged in it since Thursday, without making 
his arrival known at home. He did not tell any one whither 

* M. de Roarmez. 

f M. de Saci is here meant, the same who afterwards, during his 
imprisonment in the Bastile, translated the Holy Scriptures into the 
French tongue. 



162 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

he was going -when he set out except Madame Perier and 
Duchesne, whom he took with him. It was suspected, how- 
ever, hut only on conjecture. Some say he has turned monk, 
others hermit, others again that he is at Port Poyal ; and he 
knows all this, but does not care for it. This is the state of 
affairs at present. 

Hitherto he has seemed so much afraid of having all this 
known, that I dared not even ask him to send you word. 
But some days before his return I wrote him on the subject ; 
he answered that if it were enjoined on him to let you know, 
he would do so, but he should not think of it for his own 
part, because his progress in the divine life was so small, that 
he did ndtikncuy^what to say ; yet if I thought it was proper 
to write, he was very willing to have me write, though he 
could not see what there was to communicate. On this- 1 be- 
gan my letter at my earliest leisure, the day of its date, but 
I have not been able to find time to finish it until to-day, 
February 8th. 

Business now detains him at home, but I think as soon as 
he can, he will go back to his solitude. Yesterday he told me 
that he intended to write you, bj^ God's help, and wished me 
to write. He is anxious to do something for our little cousin, 
the daughter of Pascal the overseer ; and as this convent is 
very charitable, we hoped to get her received here as a boarder, 
but I doubt whether mother or child would be willing. Write 
me word about it, if you please, as soon as you can, and say 
how we had better manage it. I am very anxious that she 
should come, for I look upon her as a sister, and cannot 
look upon her situation, either bodily or spiritual, without 
shuddering. Besides, she is my father's niece, and I can un- 
derstand how he would have felt for her, from my own feel- 
ings towards your children. 

During this retreat of Pascal's at Port Eoyal des 
Champs, there occurred between him and M. de Sar.i, 



pascal's conversion. 163 

to whose spiritual care Singlin had consigned him, the 
celebrated discussion upon Epictetus and Montaigne, 
in which Pascal passed in review the doctrines of the 
Epicureans and Stoics, and won from his austere con- 
fessor expressions of wonder and admiration. Fon- 
taine, the secretary of de Saci, who was present at the 
conference, and wrote down its substance, tells us that 
all the inhabitants of Port Boyal des Champs were 
full of delight at the conversion and the sight of M. 
Pascal, more especially admiring the almighty power 
of that grace which in almost unparalleled mercy had 
thus deeply humbled a mind in itself so elevated, at 
the foot of the cross. 

After some months spent in the practices of a fer- 
vent yet rational piety, Pascal's eager temperament 
urged him into an extreme of exaggerated devotion, 
for which even his sister reproached him in the follow- 
' ag note : 

December 1st, 1655. 

I have been congratulated on the great fervor of devotion 
■which has lifted you so far above all ordinary customs, that 
you consider even a broom as a superfluous piece of furniture. 
It is needful, however, that, for some months at least, you 
should be as clean as now you are dirty, so that your success 
may be equally manifest in your lowly and vigilant care of 
the body, submissive to your spirit, as it has been in a tho- 
rough personal neglect. After that, if you find it glorious 
and edifying to others, to look filthy, you can do so, espe- 
cially if it be a means of holiness, which I very much doubt. 
Saint Bernard did not think it was. 



164 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

It appears that Pascal had formerly had a taste for 
the elegancies of life, for handsomely finished houses, 
furniture, &c. Now, however, he had fallen into the 
other extreme of indifference. He contends, in his 
" Penses," that it is the duty of Christians to employ 
poor artisans rather than skilful ones, because the lat- 
ter have more need of help. It was one of the rules 
of Port Eoyal to do without the aid of servants as 
much as possible, because " Christ came not to be 
ministered unto, but to minister." 

Jaqueline had a right to reproach her brother for 
his negligence, as we find from her next letter to 
Mad. Perier, that she herself, although the spouse of 
Heaven, had recently been employed in the most me- 
nial offices of the convent, which however were allot- 
ted to her merely as a preparation for one of its hon- 
orable posts. She was soon afterwards appointed 
Sub-mistress of the Lesser Noviciate. This depart- 
ment of Port Eoyal included all candidates for admis- 
sion to the sisterhood, whether they came from with- 
out the convent, or from its female school, and while 
belonging to it, their patience was tested, their maid- 
enly pride and vanity mortified in every possible way, 
in order to find out if they were the subjects of a true 
vocation to the cloister. Mad. Perier, having acci- 
dentally heard of Jaqueline's promotion, which the 
latter had concealed from her when she visited Port 
Eoyal, made some inquiries concerning it, and these 
were answered in the following letter : 



PASCAL'S CONVERSION. 165 



March 23d, 1655. 



I had thought of answering this part of your letter in the 
same style in which you wrote, but I cannot do it, for all my 
gaiety leaves me when I approach the topic. And I therefore 
entreat you most humbly to believe every word of what 1 
shall now tell you, for I am perfectly serious. I dare say that 
my employment here has been represented to you as mueh 
greater than in fact it is, and this is one reason why I write so 
seriously, for after all it is a mere nothing, and I do not think 
that any one but myself would consider it of consequence. 
But it is quite a responsibility for me, who would much rather 
keep in the background, and am fit for nothing but to bustle 
about in a tiny cell, or to sweep the house ; for this last is an 
accomplishment I have become quite expert in, as well as in 
washing dishes and spinning. You see I have learnt to be 
very handy. 

The employment assigned me, then, is to remain with the 
novices, and keep an eye on the newly-arrived candidates, in 
order to prevent such little mistakes as they are likely to make 
for want of knowing what are the customs and regulations 
of the house, which last I am to teach them by degrees. I 
also look after their little external wants, and see that they are 
provided with shoes, stockings, pins, thread, and so forth. 
This charge has been given to me, because Mother Agnes, who 
as you know, is our mistress (I think that you are aware I still 
belong to the Novitiate), and the under-mistress, are both too 
much occupied to be able to teach those who are so ignorant 
as to need instruction, even in the alphabet of faith. And 
that you may have no more cause to complain of my reserve, 
I candidly tell you that it is also my duty to advise them in 
regard to their behavior in the convent. Their confessor 
takes charge of the rest. Now you know just what I have to 
do ; and in order to do it well, I certainly require something 
more than I possess, though the little mule you speak of would 



166 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

hardly answer the purpose.* You see, however, that the 
charge is no great thing in itself, since I have only to impart 
to others what I am myself learning; and my sister Madelaine 
is always on the spot to correct me if I do wrong, and to over- 
see my pupils and me too, while the poor girls, who are so 
badly off for a directress, can apply to her, or even to Mother 
Agnes, if they choose. But for all that, I cannot help trem- 
bling when I consider that I hold the destiny, so to speak, of 
five or six girls in my hands, and that they in a measure de- 
pend on one whose charity and knowledge are so imperfect 
that she often prefers her own ease to the task of searching 
out and supplying their necessities. 

I tell you the simple truth, such as it is. And I must ac- 
knowledge that when you were here, I often felt that it was 
scarcely right to keep this a secret from you, to whom my 
heart has always been open, especially when you frequently 
asked what kept me so busy ? I had even made a memoran- 
dum to ask our Mother Agnes if this confidence were not due 
to you, but God permitted me always to forget it, and since 
you left, it has never occurred to me. Neither have I men- 
tioned it to my brother, and if he knows it, some one else has 
told him. There is a great advantage in having to teach 
others the ways of God, and to inspire them with His fear and 
love, but you will own that this employment involves also great 
peril ; for it is very difficult to speak of God in a godly man- 
ner, and very dangerous to feed others from our own penury 
instead of from His abundance. Pray for me, that my two 
mites may be as acceptable to God as the large alms of the 
wealthier, and that He may graciously teach me while I am 
teaching others. Farewell, dear sister. Yours ever in our 
Lord, 

Sister Euphemie, an unworthy nun. 

* Doubtless Madame Perier, in allusion to her sister's employments, 
had written that she seemed to be as heavily laden as a little mule ; 
and to this Jaqueline makes answer. 



pascal's conversion. 167 

Jaqueliue's next letter to her sister was in answer 
to some inquiries of the latter relating to tlie Lest 
method of educating her children. 

Poet Rotal, April 25, 1655. 

My very dear Sister, 

I take a large sheet of paper, because it is my 
resolution, by God's help, to send you a long letter. When 1 
first read the one you forwarded by my brother, I did not in- 
tend to answer it at all, for it seemed to me that I was very 
far from having the requisite ability for Mich a task, and be- 
sides that, I ought not to undertake it. For there is nothing 
in my opinion so provoking as to see a little novice, whose 
eyes have scarcely began to discern the true light, taking it 
upon herself to enlighten others, and to become their torch- 
bearer. It is really unendurable. But since, on account of 
the humility of our mothers, and the illness of M. Singlin, I 
am totally unable to procure the aid you are seeking elsewhere, 
and since I was once in the same strait that you descrihe, I do 
not know that there is any harm in saying to you what I have 
said to myself, for I feel as if you and I had but one heart and 
one soul in Christ Jesus. 

When I had written thus far. it occurred to me that M. de 
Rebours might perhaps be so kind as to give you some advice. 
I broke off, therefore, in order to consult him, and by his com- 
mand I write what he is just now unable to write you himself 
on account of the weakness of his eyes, and because, moreover, 
he says it is not his place to dictate the conduct of any one. 
That, he persists in believing, is M. Singlin's mission, and not 
his. 

He bids me say to you, — it is a settled thing, that the care 
of governing a family is one of the chief and indispensable 
duties of its head, though the care ought certainly to be di- 
vided ; that of boys belonging mainly to the husband, and 
that of girls to the wife. This, however, is not the case in 



168 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

your family, for M. Perier being too much engaged to attend 
to it properly, the responsibility falls upon you, but this does 
not release him, because he is bound to fulfil his most import- 
ant duties first. If you could persuade him to discharge them, 
you would yourself be free, but if not, the burden rests upon 
you. You are therefore bound (since you wish to labor for 
their salvation, and not merely for their external improve- 
ment, which would be easy enough), to endeavor in the first 
place to understand their dispositions, and by various little 
trials to ascertain whether they are inclined to be pious or not, 
whether they are hypocritical, or bold in the display of naughti- 
ness, what are their besetting sins, and what their tendencies 
to good. You should also try to make them love you, never 
reproving them sharply, but always with firm severity. To do 
this, it is best not to speak to them until all your angry emo- 
tions have subsided. Then try to make them ashamed of 
what they have done, and explain to them that you are far 
more grieved by their sin than because they have offended 
you. And this lesson must often be repeated, for it is a gen- 
eral rule, that uncultivated minds, for instance those of chil- 
dren and common people, can form no other idea of the per- 
sons about them than that which those persons themselves 
convey. Thus, if we wish to have them love us, we must tell 
them that we love them, and that we should feel we had failed 
in our most important duty, if we were to fail in affection 
towards them. And if we are careful to repeat this very 
often, it would be extremely difficult for others to persuade 
them to the contrary. It will not do, therefore, to be satisfied 
with giving them to understand that we dearly love them in 
a roundabout way, or with showing this by our tender care of 
them in sickuess or in their little griefs and wants. All these 
are favorable opportunities of showing that we love them, and 
we are not to let such occasions slip, but it is necessary, in ad- 
dition, to tell them so plainly and repeatedly, — telling them 
also, with equal clearness, that we only love them on condition 



pascal's conversion. 169 

that they remain obedient, and do their duties faithfully, both 
to God and their teachers. 

Discretion must dictate when it is best to use oil or vine- 
gar. All that can be said in general is this. When your 
private interests alone are in question, it is well to be patient, 
not concealing the inconvenience they have caused you, but 
showing that you forgive it, and that, if they must do wrong, 
you had rather be the sufferer yourself than have any one 
else suffer through them. You can be equally indulgent 
when it is a case of inadvertence, such as losing, breaking, or 
injuring anything, unless through glaring carelessness. Ex- 
plain to them that you are willing to pass over faults of such 
a kind, and to put up with the loss, so long as you perceive 
that they are careful to avoid what is displeasing to God. 
Make them notice, at the same time, how few persons feel so, 
but do this without ostentation, say something tending to 
prove that you do not think highly of yourself; and be care- 
ful to insinuate that you had rather be in their position than 
in your own ; for it is a good plan to point out frequently the 
advantages and dangers of those of riper years. But when- 
ever they transgress against God, disobey their teachers, or 
quarrel among themselves, then is the time to show yourself 
severe and even terrible ; for children and every-day people, 
like the Jews, can only be influenced by promises and threats. 
Having thus regulated their outward behavior, as by force, 
you may look for God's grace to bestow on them that inward 
spirit of penitence, to attain which is the aim of all your dis- 
cipline. On such occasions it will not do to forbear ; you 
must inform their tutor, and exhort him to punish them se- 
verely, unless there is reason to believe that they are truly 
sorry, and will do so no more. It is good when the threat of 
sending them away is their greatest dread ; and in order that 
it may be, you must always have them treated kindly and 
equitably, which is the only way of attaching them, until af- 
fection has taken the place of self-interest. 
S 



170 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

To bring these imperfect details to a close. You should 
accustom yourself to take them separately into your chamber, 
once a week at least, and there from time to time question 
them as to what they believe and how they pray. Explain to 
them the articles of faith, but very briefly, and dwell more on 
the moral to be drawn from them. For instance, if you are 
speaking of the Unity of God in the Trinity of divine per- 
sons, you can say that amidst all the multiplicity of worldly 
objects and business, we are to have but one supreme love, 
one wish, and one duty, which must regulate every other. 
On the mysteries of the Incarnation and the Eucharist, show 
them that we are bound to love the Saviour, and to imitate Him 
whom we adore. Teach them the commandments of God, 
and the ordinances of His Church, and make it clear to their 
minds that these include many more things than is usually 
supposed. M. de Rebours is also quite of opinion that you 
should not omit hearing them pray to God together, every 
evening. 

Jaqueline, as Mistress of the Novices, and charged 
with the oversight of the children who received their 
education at Port Royal,* consulted her brother on a 
new way of teaching persons to read invented by him, 
in which the pronunciation of syllables was substituted 
for that of letters. This method was finally adopted 
in all the schools of Port Eoyal, and published in its 
grammars. In 1657 she also composed a set of Regu- 

* In her letter, which is not sufficiently interesting to be inserted 
here, she reminds Pascal that she is his daughter in the faith, and 
asks him to inform her if he still bore the name of M. de Mons, — a 
title belonging to an old branch of the family, which Pascal had as- 
sumed while publishing the Provincial Letters. 



PASCAL'S CONVERSION. 171 

lations for children, which was originally published 
at the close of the Constitutions of Port Boyal, with 
a preface stating that so severe a discipline necessarily 
requires occasional modifications. 



famttkn sift X\t fjdi C^ru. 

Some knowledge of the rise and progress of Jan- 
senism, and of a few of its prominent adherents, is ne- 
cessary in order to understand its controversy with 
Jesuitism, and the state of ecclesiastical affairs at the 
time of that strange occurrence, the miracle of the 
Holy Thorn. 

Cornelius Jansen, or Jansenius, was born in Hol- 
land, in 1585, received his early education at Utrecht, 
and finished his studies at the University of Louvain. 
One of his fellow-students there, Jean du Verger de 
Hauranne, afterwards better known as the Abbe de 
St. Cyran, became very intimate with him, and dur- 
ing their stay at Louvain, which lasted six years, the 
two friends were brought into contact with some who 
secretly believed in the doctrine of salvation by grace ; 
and thus learned many principles of divine truth dif- 
fering greatly from the teachings usually inculcated 
by the Church of Eome. They also became acquaint- 
ed with the system of the Jesuits, and the inroads it 
was calculated to make on Scriptural truth and prac- 
tical morality. The works of St. Augustine were the 
favorite study of both. 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 173 

St. Cyran had in early youth been a companion of 
him who subsequently became Cardinal de Kichelieu, 
and personal regard, as well as the desire of binding 
a man so eminent for piety and learning to his owi 
service, made the latter show much kindness to hi 
old friend. But St. Cyran declined all offers of ser 
vice, and his want of ambition was ascribed by the 
Cardinal to secret enmity. It so happened that a 
catechism had once been published' by Richelieu, 
which taught that sorrow for sin was the only pre- 
requisite for the absolution of a penitent, even if he 
were entirely destitute of love to God. A priest 
named Seguenot wrote a reply to this dogma, and the 
authorship of his book was imputed to St. Cyran. 
The Cardinal, whose vanity was hurt, did not scruple 
to shut up the companion of his early days in the 
Chateau of Yincennes, while the University of the 
Sorbonne completed his revenge by sending Seguenot 
to the Bastile. Neither was set free till after Riche- 
lieu's death. 

Before his imprisonment, St. Cyran's opinions on 
the subject of salvation by grace, his efforts to diffuse 
them, and his personal piety, had aroused the enmity 
of the Jesuits. Their lax casuistry and unprincipled 
methods of extending their own influence, naturally 
induced a hatred of all who governed their belief and 
conduct by the teachings of Scripture. 

St. Cyran's character was one of great symmetry 
and beauty as well as strength, and he was worthy of 



174 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

the reverence felt for him by the theologians and nuns 
of Port Koyal, of whose school of divinity he may be 
considered as the founder. He died before the perse- 
cutions commenced, in consequence of his sufferings 
while in prison, leaving a greater reputation for holi- 
ness than even for learning, and his counsels and ex- 
ample were reverently embalmed in the memories and 
the writings of his disciples. Though intensely self- 
denying, he manifested the most generous and tender 
spirit to others. While at Vincennes, he sold some 
of the most valuable books in his possession, for the 
purpose of procuring clothes for two of his suffering 
fellow-prisoners, the Baron and Baroness de Beau 
Soliel. His directions to the female friend who exe- 
cuted his wishes were as follows : "I entreat you to 
buy cloth which is fine, good, and suitable to their 
rank. It is, I believe, customary for gentlemen to 
wear gold lace, and ladies black lace when in com- 
pany. If this is true, please to add those decorations 
to the dresses, and have them made neatly, yet hand- 
somely, so that, in looking at one another, they may 
forget for a little while that they are in prison." 

Jansen returned from Bayonne to his native Hol- 
land, and there became bishop of Ypres. He devoted 
himself to the study of St. Augustine's writings, read- 
ing and collating the whole of them ten times, and 
certain portions thirty times. The result of twenty 
years thus spent was a commentary entitled Angus- 
tinus Cornelii Jansenii; and on the day of its comple- 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 175 

tion the author died of the plague, leaving his work 
to the judgment of the Vatican. His executors how- 
ever published it in 1640, without consulting the pope. 
It maintained the doctrines known as Calvanistic or 
Evangelical in England — as orthodox in America — 
and insisted on the truth that salvation is the gift of 
God's free unmerited grace, yet that the individual 
called of God to salvation, must manifest the validity 
of his election by unwearied activity in every good 
word and work. St. Cyran had assisted in the com- 
position of the treatise, and used all his influence to 
disseminate its doctrines. 

Meanwhile the Abbess Angclique, after fulfilling 
her benevolent mission as a Eeformer, had returned 
to Port Eoyal des Champs. There, however, as has 
before been stated, the diseases engendered by the 
marshy grounds around the convent produced so la- 
mentable an effect upon the health of the sisterhood, 
that Mad. Arnauld purchased for them a hotel in the 
Faubourg St. Jacques in Paris, whither for a season 
they removed, and which is spoken of in the present 
memoir as Port Eoyal de Paris. This removal took 
place in 1626. 

In 1637, the year before St. Cyran's incarceration, 
which lasted until 1643, a set of devout men, follow- 
ers of that holy ecclesiastic, gradually assembled in 
the forsaken cloisters. They had renounced the world, 
and were living in the observance of a rigorous sys- 
tem of bodily and spiritual self-denial, though they 



176 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

took no vows. Penitence, solitude, silence were re- 
quired of them ; they hardly allowed themselves food 
enough to support life, and spent their time in prayer, 
in works of charity, in the education of youth, and 
the defence of Christianity. The honored names Ni- 
cole, Fontaine, Lemaltre, the celebrated advocate, De 
Saci, his brother, who translated the Scriptures into 
French, and Eacine, can only be mentioned here. 
The great Arnauld, the head of the community after 
St. Cyran's death, was the youngest brother of the 
Mere Angelique, and partook of her indomitable en- 
ergy and talent. While in the enjoyment of wealth 
and distinction, the young Antoine Arnauld, already 
distinguished for genius and learning, paid a visit to 
St. Cyran in his dungeon, and became imbued with 
his principles. He renounced his preferments and the 
favor of Eichelieu, who endeavored, but in vain, to 
prevent him from being made a doctor of the Sor- 
bonne, or University of Paris. From that time until 
his death, he devoted himself to the maintenance of 
truth against all hazards, and his controversial works 
fill forty quarto volumes. When at the age of eighty 
he was preparing for a fresh conflict, a friend suggest- 
ed to him that having toiled so long and manfully, he 
was now entitled to rest. " Eest !" he answered, " will 
not eternity be long enough to rest in ?" And al- 
though this principle was not enunciated till life drew 
near its close, the spirit of it had animated his whole 
career. In 1643 he .published a book, " De la fre*- 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 177 

quente Communion," intended to correct the lax 
standard of church-membership in his own day, by- 
reviving the early discipline of the Church, and at the 
same time to stigmatise the morality of the Jesuits as 
it deserved, who instead of strictness in preparing the 
penitents for the Communion, made its frequent par- 
ticipation the chief means of grace, desecrating the rite 
and deceiving the recipient. Its appearance com- 
menced the famous quarrel between Jesuits and Jan- 
senists, which after lasting for seventy years, closed 
with the destruction of Port Royal. The Jesuits were 
equally amazed and indignant. They could not re- 
fute Arnauld, but their influence at Rome caused him 
to be cited thither to answer for his doctrines, and 
not choosing to venture his person in Rome, he re- 
mained in concealment for some twenty-five years in 
and about Port Royal. The liberties of the French 
church were so deeply involved in the controversy as 
to occasion a universal interest in its progress. 

The origin of M. de St. Cyran's connection with the 
Convent of Port Royal has been narrated. Shortly 
before his death, which occurred a few months after 
his release from Yincennes, in 1643, he persuaded the 
Mere Angelique that it was her duty to return to the 
valley of Chevreuse. Accordingly, she and some of 
her nuns once more took possession of the convent, 
and the recluses* withdrew to La Grange, a farm in 
its neighborhood. 

* Those who wish for a more detailed account of the recluses of 
8* 



178 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

In both convents a course of almost incredible self- 
denial and benevolence was pursued. The excess of 
the nuns' charity sometimes left them -without food, 
and nearly without clothing. The horrors of civil 
war during the Fronde drove the poor peasants of the 
vicinity to seek refuge from marauders within the 
sacred walls. At one time, the church was piled up 
to the ceiling with oats, peas, beans, and corn, the 
dormitory and chapter-house being rilled with horses, 
and the infirmary with sick and wounded. 

"When these evils were in a measure subdued, the 
Jesuits renewed their attacks. Their implacable hos- 
tility to Port Eoyal had other grounds besides the 
attachment felt by its inmates for St. Cyran, and the 
doctrines of grace. " To the family of Arnauld," says 
Tregelles, "they appeared to have an hereditary 
hatred, in the remembrance of the manner in which 
the father of the Mere Angelique had acted against 
the Jesuits in the days of their early introduction into 
France, when with extraordinary force and eloquence 
he attacked their institute, and charged home upon 
their order the crime of the murder of Henry III." 

They first accused the Port Koyalists of despising 
the Eucharist, using no holy water or images in their 
churches, and praying neither to saints nor Virgin. 
Protestant sympathy with the accused would be greatly 

Port Royal, are referred to the brilliant essay of Sir James Stephen 
on the Port Royalists, published first in the Edinburgh Review, and 
afterwards reprinted in his " Miscellanies." 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 179 

enhanced had the imputations proved true, but un- 
happily there is too much evidence to the contrary, 
even in the writings of Jaqueline Pascal alone. The 
next onset was more skilfully managed. One of their 
number, Father Cornet, drew up five propositions from 
the work of Jansenius, and denounced them to the 
Holy See as heretical opinions taught by St. CyTan 
and Arnauld. The Pope pronounced their condem- 
nation, and the Jesuits were triumphant, since the 
Port Royalists could not refuse submission to his au- 
thority. But Arnauld, though he did not defend the 
propositions, refused to abandon Jansenius, and de- 
clared that he could not find the objectionable state- 
ments in the Augustinus. The Jesuits asserted that 
nevertheless there they were, but refused to point out 
the paragraphs containing them. Cardinal Mazarin, 
who now held the reins of empire, favored the Jesuits, 
to which order the King's confessor also belonged, 
and the two appointed a committee of doctors, who 
decided that the propositions condemned by the Pope 
were in the book of Jansenius in sentiment, if not in 
the precise words. All the ecclesiastics and religious 
communities in France were at once required to sign 
an acknowledgment to that purpose. Arnauld, as his 
enemies had hoped, instead of signing, published a 
statement of his own belief in regard to the doctrines 
of grace, drawn from St. Augustine, and asserted that 
Jansenius had written nothing more. Thus arose the 
question of droit and fait. No one denied the Pope's 



180 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

right {droit) to condemn any doctrine as heretical : 
there were many who denied the fact {fait) that the 
censured propositions could be found in the work of 
Jansenius. Anne of Austria, the Queen Eegent, was 
completely under Mazarin's influence, and easily per- 
suaded that heretics like the Port Eoyalists ought not 
to have the charge of children. She therefore com- 
missioned her lieutenants to break up the entire es- 
tablishment, and its destruction seemed inevitable, but 
for an occurrence so extraordinary, that one can hardly 
believe it, in spite of the weight of evidence by which 
it is attested. 

Margaret Perier, niece of Jaqueline and Blaise Pas- 
cal, and youngest daughter of M. and Mad. Perier, a 
child then about eleven years old, at school in the 
convent, had for three years and a half endured in- 
tense suffering from a fistula lacryrnalis, of the most 
obstinate and malignant kind, and her medical attend- 
ants were about, as a last resource, to cauterize it. In 
the meantime, a clerical relative of the Mere Angel- 
ique, who had a great fancy for collecting relics, M. 
de la Polterie, had obtained possession of what was 
considered a veritable splinter from the Eedeemer's 
crown of thorns ; and the ladies of Port Eoyal being 
very desirous of seeing it, a day was appointed for the 
purpose. 

We leave Jaqueline to tell the sequel in her let- 
ters to Mad. Perier. She makes hardly any reference 
to the preceding difficulties, or the impending perse- 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 181 

cution of Port Koyal. It is possible that slic did not 
know much about them ; for the " Constitutions" di- 
rect the exclusion of worldly topics from general con- 
versation. 

" As to what is passing in the world, the Abbess can im 
part to the sisters such information as she thinks would be 
serviceable in leading them to value their own advantages, 
to feel compassion for persons in affliction, and to pray more 
for the Church and the kingdom, that God may in mercy re- 
strain the sins and evils which provoke Ilis righteous indig- 
nation. But it is better for her not to enter into details. 
These might cause too much distraction of mind, and revive 
an interest in worldly matters, which, in accordance with our 
Lord's injunction, ' Let the dead bury their dead,' ought not 
to be felt." 

If, however, an exception was made in Jaqueline's 
favor, the knowledge does not seem to have troubled 
her. After breathing the atmosphere of faith and pa- 
tience so long, her spiritual strength had become in- 
vigorated, and the heart which once throbbed with 
such painful anxiety in the maternal arms of Angel- 
ique, now knew no care but that of performing the 
duties of each day aright. We are told of the Mere 
Agnes, that " Eternity was already mirrored in her 
soul, for she looked only at the present moment, and 
neither troubled herself in prospect of the future, 
nor in retrospect of the past. The impress of eternal 
realities seemed to efface all past events from her recol- 
lection. She was never heard to speak of things that 



182 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

had happened to her, or that she had performed. 
Forgetting everything that was behind, she aimed 
only to perfect what was yet lacking in her piety." It 
is more than probable that during Jaqueline Pascal's 
novitiate, she acquired from her preceptress the secret 
of that unruffled composure, which nothing could dis- 
turb but sin. 

Letter from the nun Jaqueline to her sister Madame 
Perier : — 

Port Royal, March 9th, 1656. 

My very dear Sister, 

Lent will not hinder me from writing you a few 
words, although I wrote hefore on Friday last, since I have 
only good news to tell you. I think you are aware that our 
Jubilee began yesterday, and will last a fortnight ; and that, 
among other privileges, there is to be a communion-service on 
Sunday, April 2d. I make this preamble in order to increase 
the joy it will afford you to learn, that your eldest daughter is 
to be confirmed and to receive the sacrament for the first time 
on that day. She told me so this morning, and asked me to 
pray for her, so earnestly that she wept. 

This is good news. But there is other news to be told, not 
better indeed, but more wonderful. And to let you know the 
whole affair, without increase or diminution, I must begin from 
the beginning. On Friday, March 24, 1656, M. de la Polterie, 
the clergyman, sent hither a very handsome reliquary to our 
mothers, (having within it a splinter from the holy crown of 
thorns, set in a little sun of gilt silver,) in order that the 
whole community might enjoy the sight. Before returning it, 
they had it placed on a little altar in the choir, and when an 
'anthem had been chanted in honor of the holy crown, each 
sister went up and kissed it on her knees, and so did the chil- 
dren afterwards, one by one. Sister Flavia, their governess. 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 183 

who stood by, made a sign to Maggie (Margaret Perier), as she 
drew near, to touch her eye with the relic, and herself took it 
up and laid it on the sore, hardly thinking what she was about. 
When all had retired, it was sent back to M. de la Polterie. 
That same evening, Sister Flavia, who had forgotten the cir- 
cumstance, heard Maggie saying to one of the little girls, " My 
eye is cured ; it does not pain me at all now." Not a little 
surprised, she went to the child, and found that the swelling 
in the corner of her eye, which in the morning was as thick as 
her own finger-tip, and very long and hard, had quite gone 
down, and the eye itself appeared as healthy as the other, and 
looked precisely like it, although before the relic was applied, 
it was watery and painful to behold. She pressed it, and in- 
stead of discharging matter, a thick water, which it had always 
done before, there was nothing more to be seen than in her 
own eye. You can imagine her astonishment. However, she 
scarcely dared to hope, and merely mentioned to Mother Agnes 
how the case stood, waiting for time to show if the cure were 
as real as it appeared. Mother Agnes was kind enough to tell 
me about it next day, and as we could not hope that so great 
a wonder would be completed in so short a time, she said that 
if the child continued well, and it seemed likely that God would 
in this way heal her, she would willingly request M. de la 
Polterie to repeat the favor he had done us in order that the 
miracle might be completed. But hitherto it has not been 
necessary, and a week having now elapsed (for I could not 
finish this letter on Tuesday last) without the return of a sin- 
gle symptom, it really needs far more faith for any one who 
did not see her in her former state to believe that the eye was 
diseased, than it does for those who did see her to believe that 
nothing could have wrought so instantaneous a cure, except a 
miracle quite as great, and quite as visible as the restoring of 
sight to a blind man. Besides the difficulty in her eye, she 
suffered in many ways proceeding from it ; she could hardly 
sleep at all for the pain it gave her ; there were two places in 



184 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

her head which could not be touched with a comb, because 
they seemed to be connected with the nerves of her eye, while 
only two days before it had made my own eyes water merely 
to look at hers, and the discharge smelt very badly. Now there 
is nothing of the kind to be seen, no more than if nothing 
had ailed her. However, not to make too sure of so wonderful 
a favor without good grounds, it was thought proper to send 
for M. Delanqay, who had seen her a short time before, and 
indeed had frequently seen her since she left off using the lo- 
tion of M. de Chatillon. He thought the eye so diseased that 
it must inevitably be cauterized, and explained his reasons for 
this very clearly. He will be here to-day without fail ; and 
by God's help, I will send you word what he thinks now, and 
why he was sure that fire alone could effect a cure, that is, if 
he come early enough, if not, I will write on Tuesday. D.V. 
It is a double mercy to be both favored of God and hated 
of men. Pray for us, that God may keep us from being puffed 
up by the first or dejected by the last, and give us grace to 
look on both as the effect of his mercy. I am particularly 
glad that I had nothing to do with this miracle personally, 
because now my joy and thankfulness are unmingled with 
fear Farewell. 

M. Delanqay has now seen Maggie, and considers the cure 
a perfect and miraculous one. He has appointed a week 
to make sure that there is no relapse. Till then, it is not to 
be spoken of. 

To Madame Perier on the same subject : — 

Friday Afternoon, March 31, 1656. 

M. Delan^ay came this morning The state of the child's 

eye when he saw it about two months since,* it convinced him 

* Jaqueline enters into details of her niece's sufferings, which are 
too sickening to bear repetition. 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THOEN. 185 

that she must have it cauterized this very spring, because delay- 
would only allow the bone to decay still further, and the con- 
eequences might be so dreadful that they scarcely dared to tell 
me of them. It was possible that her nose might fall oft", and 
half her face be eaten away. However, he did not despair of 
curing her by means of fire, neither did he feel very confi- 
dent of success, but said that no other earthly remedy could avail. 
When M. Delanqay came, she was taken to him without a 
word. He looked at her in equal silence, turned her round, 
pressed her eye, put his spatula into her nose, and seemed 
greatly astonished to find nothing there. He was asked if he 
did not remember how diseased it was. He answered with 
much simplicity, " That is what I am hunting for, but I cannot 
find it." I begged him to look into her mouth. He did so, 
put in his spatula and began to laugh, saying, "There is 
nothing whatever here." Thereupon my sister Flavia told 
him what had occurred. He made her go over it again, for 
he is a very wise and prudent man ; and when he had asked 
if it went away at once, and the child answered yes, he said 
that he would at any time furnish a certificate that such a cure 
could not be wrought unless by miracle. He does not affirm 
anymore than we do, that the disease will not return, because 
that is known only to God, but he declares that she is perfectly 
free from it now, and quite well. These are his own words, or 
their equivalent. Nevertheless, he advises us to keep it quiet 
for the present, and to restrain our grateful emotions within 
the convent Avails as much as we can, for fear of a wrong con- 
struction being put upon them. He did not explain himself 
any further, but we know that he meant to say " our hour was 
not yet come ;" and that the words, " This is your hour," are 
applicable to others. I earnestly desire that the rest of the 
verse may not be so suitable as it now seems ; for everything 
which opposes itself to the light of truth, may well be called 
darkness* He then exhorted the child to profit by so great 

* Alluding to the Jesuit persecution of Port KoyaL and their op- 



186 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

a mercy ; and her governess told us that nothing is a more 
convincing proof of the miracle to her than to see Maggie act 
as if God really changed her heart, for ever since she has been 

a much better girl Farewell : pray that the Lord 

may graciously make my spiritual eyes very healthy, pure and 
clear-sighted 

Poet Royal, October 24, 1656. 
Mr VERY DEAR SlSTER, 

Doubtless my brother's delight has got the better 
of his indolence, and his account of the conclusion of the mir- 
acle has preceded mine, concerning which there is nothing 
further to be told, except that some eight or ten days ago, 
the child was examined by regular surgeons in presence of 
the judge of the Bishop's court, whither she was taken with 
her sister in a secular dress, and that yesterday or to-day, he 
pronounced a sentence of approbation or verification, I do not 
know its right name, on the miraculous cure. We are con- 
sequently going, on Friday next, by God's help, to perform a 
solemn Te Deum, and a special mass of thanksgiving. The 
child will hold a lighted taper in the outer church. We 
shall thus attempt to display in part, the gratitude that God 
enables us to feel at heart for so marvellous an interposition. 
. . . It is the prerogative of God alone to act as God, 
in bringing the greatest good out of the greatest evil, and 
the deepest joy out of the heaviest cross. Let us implore him 
to dispose us always to allow ourselves to be led blindfolded 
by so certain a guide. 

Extract of another letter to Mad. Perier. 

Port Royal, October 30, 1656. 
My very dear Sister, 

My brother will not fail to send you several printed 
copies of the sentence pronounced by the Grand Vicar, and 

position to the doctrine of salvation through the grace of Christ 
alone. 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 187 

you will thereby see that we were commanded to chant amasa 

of thanksgiving on Friday, the 27th instant. The celebration 
began on the evening before, by our singing hymns on the 
Holy Crown ; and on Friday the usual services were doubled, 
and we sang every hour, the choristers remaining in the choir, 
as is the custom on days of high festival. To complete the 
whole, my little sister Marguerite (we no longer call her Mag- 
gie) was in the choir among the novices, because the celebra- 
tion was held on her account, although the little girls are not 
often admitted. Early in the morning the church was crowded, 
in spite of a heavy rain. There was a little altar erected in 
our choir near the grating, which was left open. It was dress- 
ed in white, and covered with a handsome calico veil, on 
which our mother placed the reliquary containing the holy 
thorn, with a great many lights around it. From this altar 
the Grand Vicar came to take it up, carrying the crucifix him- 
self, while sixteen deacons accompanied him, bearing wax ta- 
pers. He bore it thence, covered with a canopy, as in the 
procession of the holy communion, to the Iligh Altar, two 
deacons carrying incense before it ; and there deposited it on 
a little decorated stand made expressly for the purpose. 
Meanwhile all the nuns, with their long veils lowered, chauted 
the hymn Exite Filice Sion, and the anthem Corona, 
kneeling behind the grating, and each holding a lighted ta- 
per, so did the child herself, who knelt before the rails in 
front of our choir, dressed very neatly and modestly in a gray 
frock and hood. She had two large cushions to kneel on, in 
order to be high enough for the people to see her, and they 
crowded and climbed about wherever they could, so as to get 
a good view. Then the altar was removed from the choir, 
and the Grand Vicar said high mass. The chanting to the 
holy crown was very solemn, and the middle of the grating 
was left open, that the congregation might have the comfort 
of beholding the child, who was placed in front on a desk 
covered with a carpet, having a lighted taper before her, and 



188 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

a chair to sit on when she wished. She remained there as 
calmly as if it had been her accustomed place, and knelt 
and rose at the proper time, with as much modesty and grace 
as if she had had long training. . . . The weather cleared 
during the ceremony, and the church was not empty during 
the whole day. So many copies of the Vicar's sentence 
were sold, at a sou each, that 100 francs were taken merely 
in the court before the church. I have neither time nor ability 
to speak of my own feelings on the occasion ; you will appre- 
ciate them by your own. That which belongs to God is in- 
expressible, and taught far better by experience than words. 
Let us beseech Him to enable us never to forget this marvel- 
lous cure, and not to let time efface its impression from our 
hearts. It will be no less astonishing ten years hence than 
it is now, to think of such a disease being instantaneously 
healed. I am forced to leave off, having but one drop of ink 
left to say that Madame Daumont, who is very kind to us 
all, sends you the portrait of our little sister Marguerite in 
copperplate, feeling sure that it would give you pleasure. It 
has touched the holy thorn. Adieu, <fec. 

The question of the origin of the miracle we do not 
propose to discuss. Its authenticity was fully estab- 
lished, not merely by the surgeons who first witnessed 
the cure, but by a special investigation, conducted 
through M. Felix, the king's head surgeon, at the re- 
quest of Anne of Austria, who, disliking the Jansen- 
ists, would have rejoiced to see the miracle disproved. 
But the queen-mother dared not resist the weight of 
evidence, nor proceed in her designs against a con- 
vent on which she was convinced that Heaven had set 
its approving seal. She therefore recalled her lieuten- 
ant, suspended her threatened penalties, and Por* 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 189 

Royal remained in peace. The gratitude of its in- 
mates must be left to the imagination, for so inevitable 
had their destruction appeared, that the then Abbess, 
Madame Suireau des Anges, shut herself up in her 
cell, and did nothing by day or night, but lift up her 
heart to God, knowing that no hope of human help 
was left her. 

Jaqueline Pascal vented the exuberance of her joy 
in a long poem, and Port Royal, relaxing from its se- 
vere prohibition of poetry, permitted the verses to be 
published. Sir James Stephen remarks that " time 
must be at some discount with any man who should 
employ it in adjusting the balance of improbabities in 
the case of the Holy Thorn." The same may be said 
of any one attempting to translate the tedious stanzas, 
in which Jaqueline, to use her own expression, " sat- 
isfied the impetuosity of a zeal whose warmth forbade 
her to be silent." 

The appearance of the Provincial Letters was nearly 
simultaneous with the miracle. As Pascal, after his 
conversion, remained firm in his determination to for- 
sake the world, it soon forsook him. He passed much 
of his time in prayer* and in reading the Scriptures 
with such diligence, that he appeared to know the 
whole Bible by heart, could at once detect any mis- 
quotation, and decide whether or not a doctrine was 

* It is a fact -worthy of notice that those Christians who, like Lu- 
ther, have been most renowned for enduring usefulness in action or 
in -writing, have invariably devoted the best part of the day to prayer 
and pious meditation on the word of God. — Reuchlin. 



190 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

to be found there, and if so in what place. He also 
read good commentaries, and while the main object 
of his studies was personal edification and growth in 
grace, he was no stranger to the more abstruse ques- 
tions of predestination and man's free-will. He had 
but little acquaintance with the tenets of the Keforma- 
tion, and shared the prejudices of Port Koyal against 
heretics, being quite unaware how nearly his own be- 
lief agreed with theirs. His early reverence for relig- 
ion had changed into a tender yet glowing love for 
its truths, and this love urged him into an unflinch- 
ing contest with everything that opposed them. None, 
therefore, need marvel at suddenly beholding him on 
the battle-field, where with invisible yet potent arm 
he dealt out such vigorous blows, that the scattered, 
down-trodden remnant of Jansenists again rallied, and 
spread dismay among the ranks of their foes. 

Margaret Perier, in her memoirs, gives the follow- 
ing account of the origin and mode of publication of 
the famous " Letters :" 

It was M. Pascal who, in 1656, attacked the Jesuit moral- 
ity, and this is how he came to do it. He had gone to Port 
Royal des Champs, for the purpose of passing some time in 
retirement, as he often did. The Sorbonne was then busy with 
the condemnation of M. Arnauld, who was likewise at Port 
Royal. The gentlemen there all begged him to write in his 
own defence, saying, " Are you going to let yourself be con- 
demned like a child, that has nothing to say for itself?" 
He wrote, therefore, and read his production to them all, but 
no one gave it any praise. M. Arnauld, who did not covet 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 191 

applause, then Baid: "I see very clearly that you think this 
a pooi- performance, and 1 believe you are in the right;' 1 and 

turning to M. Pascal, he added, "But you, who are young, 
ought to do something." M. Pascal wrote the first Provin- 
cial Letter, and read it to them. M. Arnauld cried, " That i-; 
excellent, every one will like it, it must be printed." This 
was done, the success it had is well known, and the work went 
on. M. Pascal, who rented a house in Paris, went to an inn 
where he was not known, and remained there at work, under 
the name of M. de Mons. It was at the sign of King 1 >avid, 
in the Rue des Poiriers, just opposite the College of Cler- 
mont, now called the College of Louis the Great. M. Perier, 
his brother-in-law, who was then in Paris, took lodgings in 
the same inn, as a stranger from the country, not letting the 
relationship be known. Father Defretal, a Jesuit, related both 
to M. Pascal and M. Perier, called on the latter, and told him 
that, being a relative, he was glad to be able to give him 
warning, that the Society of Jesuits were firmly persuaded that 
M. Pascal, his brother-in-law, was the author of those little 
letters against them which had such a run in Paris, and that 
M. Perier would do well to warn him and advise him to stop 
writing them, or he might- find himself in trouble. M. Perier 
thanked him, but said it would be a useless task, for M. Pas- 
cal would answer that he could not help their suspicions, 
since if he were to disavow the authorship, they would not 
believe him, and therefore, if they chose to suspect him, there 
was no remedy. The Jesuit then went away, repeating that 
he ought to be warned and to beware. M. Perier was greatly 
relieved by his departure, for there was at that very time a 
score of copies of the seventh or eighth letter spread out upon 
his bed to dry. Luckily the curtains were drawn, and a 
Jesuit brother, who had accompanied Father Dufretal, and sat 
near the bed, did not perceive it. M. Perier immediately ran 
upstairs to tell M. Pascal, whose room was overhead, though 
the Jesuits had no idea of his being so near them. 



192 JACQUELINE PASCAL. 

" The immortal Provincials," called by the exasper- 
ated Jesuits " the immortal liars" were printed in the 
immediate neighborhood of the Jesuits' College, where 
it was rightly supposed that no one would dream of 
discovering the author. Their circulation was im- 
mense, and the effect prodigious. The Chancellor, a 
warm ally of the Jesuits, became so enraged, that it 
was necessary for him to be let blood seven times ; a 
remedy applied in those days to all sorts of disease, 
whether of the mind or body. The secret intrigues 
of Port Eoyal had long been complained of by their 
opponents, but the latter now saw themselves the ob- 
jects of a more dangerous, though an open attack, di- 
rected by a chieftain at once skilful and unseen. 

The first letter was dated January 23, 1656. The 
country-friend to whom Louis de Montalte (the as- 
sumed name of Pascal*) imparted such lively com- 
ments on Parisian church affairs, is supposed to have 
been his brother-in-law, Mons. Perier. The Port Roy- 
alists had at first some scruples concerning the lawful- 
ness of using the carnal weapons of satire and wit 
against the enemies of truth. Singlin, in particular, 
felt that merriment was out of place when applied to 
religious subjects. Success, however, proved in this 
case the test of propriety as well as genius, and all at 



* And an allusion probably to the high mountains of his native 
Auvergne. One of those lofty eminences, the Puy de Dome, was con- 
nected with the decisive experiments also as to his own discovery of 
the pressure of the atmosphere. 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 193 

length acquiesced in the employment of measures both 
innocent in themselves, and more than sanctified by 
the result. " There is something sublime," says 
Reuchlin, "in mirth amidst the fearful perils then 
threatening the little flock of Port Royal. The man 
who can jest when his vessel is foundering, cither must 
be godless — or his confidence in God must be strong 
indeed." 

Yet Pascal, while relying on God's help and cheer- 
fully doing battle for the right, looked well to the 
fastenings of his armor. Perfect as was his mastery 
of style,* he was so anxious that every word should 
be well chosen and effective, as in one instance to 
have re-written a letter (the 18th) thirteen times. The 
end attained was well worth the labor. 

As to their contents, they are thus characterized by 
Tregelles : 

In these remarkable letters, Pascal showed with extraordi- 
nary force how narrow the question really was — whether five 
propositions are in the Augustinus or not — when no one had 
there pointed them out ; he showed by what unworthy com- 
promises the condemnation of Arnauld had been obtained, 
and besides touching on doctrinal points which were involved, 
he firmly and manfully attacked the shameless casuistry of 
the Jesuits. These letters had a w r ondferful efficiency, for 
their power was felt even by those who had no apprehension 
of the present subjects of controversy. Pascal gave such ex- 

* That exquisitely natural style, so identified with the writer's 
soul, that it may be characterized as Thought herself, robed in her 
own chaste nudity, like an antique statue — Faugiese. 



194: JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

tracts from the approved writings of the order as filled men 
with amazement. At first he printed them without referring 
to the works cited : the Jesuits denied such abominable opin- 
ions to be maintained by their approved writers. Pascal then 
pointed out the places from which he had quoted. The dis- 
covery ought to have covered the Jesuits with confusion ; but 
by way of answer, they cried out that the writer of the letters 
was a heretic, and that a heretic must not be 'believed? 

The epistles of Jaqueline more than once refer to 
the Provincial Letters. "We may therefore conclude 
that the nuns were allowed to hear them, and perhaps 
for once, despite St. Benedict, to indulge in the luxury 
of a hearty laugh. 

Before we arrive at the period of the persecution 
and the stormy close of Jaqueline's life, several inter- 
esting letters demand attention. One is addressed to 
her nieces Jaqueline and Margaret Perier, then at Port 
Boyal de Paris, and is believed by M. Cousin to be 
the only specimen of her hand-writing now extant. 
He obtained it from M. Hecquet d'Orval, the descend- 
ant of M. Hecquet, a celebrated Jansenist physician' 
of the seventeenth century. 

To my dear sisters Marie Jaqueline and Margaret Euphemie 
Perier : — 

Port Royal des Champs, February 10, 1660. 
My very dear Nieces, 

You have so much reason to complain of me that I 
cannot find any excuse for myself. It will therefore be a 
shorter way to ask the forgiveness which I doubt not you will 



JANSENISM AND TEE HOLY THORN. 195 

grant; for if I were to bring forward some excuse that was 
not exactly true, I should both injure myself and Bet you a 
very bad example. 

I hope my delay in writing has not made you forget your 
promise to pray for me often, for you have been taught too 
carefully to be capable of rendering evil for evil. For which 
reason, though you have cause to imagine 1 had forgotten you, 
I cannot think that you have wished to do the same by me. 
If you had, you would have done me a great injustice, for I 
can assure you, my dear sisters, that it seems to me as if I 
could forget myself ere I forget you, and the less I testify my 
love for you, the more I feel it. For as love is a fire burning 
in the heart, it must of necessity be active, and when it lias 
no outward vent, the flame is concentrated within, that is, 
provided weakness or dulness be not the occasion of its ceas- 
ing to appear outwardly. In that case the warmth unques- 
tionably lessens as the flame goes down, like a lire which has 
no draught, and is suffered to go out for lack of fuel. But I 
feel as though I could unhesitatingly assure you that my love 
for you is not of this nature. It rather resembles a fire closely 
packed together, which diffuses all the more heat, because it 
does not waste its strength over a large surface. See, my dear 
sisters, how I have unconsciously allowed my pen to run on in 
assuring you how much I love you. I pray to our Lord that 
He may kindle His holy love in all our hearts, and make it the 
sole source of the love we feel for one another ; for without 
this, that love would only be a carnal friendship, and would 
not benefit us. 

I know that you will try to love me in this way ; but since 
I do not believe you are as yet sufficiently advanced to obtain 
from God whatever you ask, I entreat you to procure for me 
the prayers of my sister Flavia, whom you must assure of 
my regard, as well as those of your other mistresses, if our 
Mother is willing to allow you, and also to salute them from 
me. Good-bye, my dear sisters, I am entirely yours, in Him 



196 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

who is our All, and in whose presence we are nothing. Pray 
to Him that I may be made worthy to pray for you. 
S. J. de St. Euphemie. 

Use. Ide. (religieuse indigue), 

An unworthy nun. 

The sister Angelique de St. Jean was about a year 
older than Jaqueline Pascal. Being a daughter of 
Robert Arnauld cl'Andilly, and therefore niece to the 
Abbesses Angelique and Agnes, she was brought up 
under their care from early childhood. Her wonder- 
ful genius and penetrating intellect caused them often 
to recommend her to the prayers of their friends in 
these terms, "Ask that God may fill her with His 
Holy Spirit, for if she does not do good, she will do a 
great deal of harm. She took the veil at the age of 
seventeen, and became one of the brightest lights of 
Port Royal, being very pious and lowly-minded as 
well as intelligent. She seems to have possessed the 
true artistic temperament, evidenced both by her early 
skill in modelling, and the glowing yet life-like tone in 
which her contributions to the History of Port Royal 
are written. Her " Character of the Abbess Agnes" 
is almost a poem, and her own history was poetry in 
action. She stood foremost among those nuns whom 
the enraged Archbishop of Paris styled "pure as an- 
gels, yet proud as devils," and bore a long captivity 
with dauntless fortitude. Her memoirs of the perse- 
cution form one of the most touching chapters in the 
annals of feminine endurance for the sake of truth. 



JANSENISM AND THE HOLY THORN. 197 

After having been twice Abbess, she died in 1084, at 
the age of fifty-nine, from grief at the death of her 
cousin and spiritual guide, M. de Saci, whom she only 
survived three weeks. 

In 1659 she was sent to Port Royal de Paris to fill 
the office of Sub-prioress and Mistress of the Novices 
there, which was Jaqueline Pascal's post at Port Royal 
des Champs. During her absence, her younger sister, 
who had taken the veil under the name of Anne 
Marie de Sainte Eugenic, died, and Jaqueline on the 
same day despatched to Angelique de St. Jean the 
following account of her last moments : — 

Mr VERY DEAR SlSTER, 

You would have a right to complain of me, if I did 
not attempt to give you some comfort in our mutual loss of 
that poor child. I hardly know anything that would pain mo 
more than her past sufferings and the sad separation have 
done. Yet both are so mingled with consolation, that it is 
difficult to say which is the stronger and more justifiable feel- 
ing ; my grief for the loss of one who seemed nearer to me 
than if she had been a relative, or my joy and gratitude for 
the grace of God manifested towards one for whom I was 
bound to implore it. Her holy frame of mind was more es- 
pecially displayed when her illness was at its height. It 
seems as if God had prolonged her life, against all likelihood, 
for the last week, only to show us what His grace had effected. 
She did not really think that she should not recover, until two 
hours before her death, and this shows that her piety was 
genuine, and did not arise from a sense of immediate danger. 
For she expected to recover, though she did not desire it, 
and indeed rather wished for death than feared it, especially 
since M. Singlin's last visit. 



198 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

The poor child, feeling very ill, went to the communion as 
a sick person, a little fearful how so violent an attack might 
terminate, hut otherwise in a very happy frame, for it delight- 
ed her to think that her illness was sent as a chastisement, 
and her greatest alarm, next to the fear of death, was lest 
she might not he made better by it, or might not endure it 
with sufficient patience. God graciously removed from her 
afterwards all fear of death, and every reason for her other 
fears, for she was so gentle and good a patient, that all who 
attended on her were greatly edified. 

And we may believe this to have been the work of grace 
rather than the effect of bodily weakness, because on Monday 
week I perceived that she had strong objections to swallow- 
ing a drink, which to all appearance was the only thing that 
kept her alive from that time until to-day, and that while she 
drank water to quench her thirst very eagerly, she only took 
the medicine by drops. I said to her, very gently, that since 
God had sent this illness as a chastisement, she ought to aid 
its effect by willingly submitting to all the remedies which 
necessarily accompanied it. 

This impressed her so forcibly, that ever afterwards she 
took whatever was offered her, and could not bear to have 
any one pity her, but would overcome the great pain it gave 
her to speak, in order to say that her sufferings were nothing, 
and not worthy to be compared with those of many other 
persons. She showed to the last a deep gratitude for every- 
thing that was done for her, and her humility was such, that 
she really felt herself to deserve nothing. She often complained 
that her weakness prevented her from praying to God ; and 
yesterday she asked me very earnestly if she ought not to 
repeat at least one of the daily prayers. I answered that her 
illness was sufficient excuse ; but she said with a sigh, " That 
would be true if I bore it properly, but I am so sinful ;" and 
then she confessed some trifling impatience. I told her that 
the illness which produced these faults was their apology, and 



JANSENISM AND TilE HOLY TH< 199 

that as to her devotions, she need only lift up her heart to 
God when she remembered it was prayer-time. Thi 
her peace, or I should say, kept her in peace, for her peace, 
thank < rod, was uninterrupted. 

She confessed yesterday evening, but we did not think her 
so near her end. I believe thai her mind was singularly col- 
lected during confession. The last time that she saw M. Sing- 
lin she spoke quite as freely and intelligently as sin- had ever 
done, and this morning she seemed bo brighl and talked so 
readily, that L was never more surprised than on hearing after 
mass that the death-rattle had begun. We hurried to her at 
once, and found her commencing the last agony, hut so con- 
scious, that I was terribly alarmed lest ahe should be troubled 
at the approach of death. But God was moregra 
than I had dared to hope. 

Neither the Mother Prioress nor I left her again, and it 
comforted her greatly when from time to time we re] 
something to lift her thoughts to God. About noon, she 
turned to me, and knowing that I was grieved to see her suf- 
fer, she said, " Your poor child is very sick.*' 1 answered, 
" Yes, she suffers greatly," for she was shivering from head 
to foot. She replied, " True, but it is nothing, if I could only 
hope to be pardoned." I tried to encourage her, anil in a 
little while she said, "What a comfort it is to die under 
your care !" This convinced me that she was aware of her 
situation, and I told her that the Superior had gone to fetcli 
M. de Saci. She seemed very glad, and soon after said, "M. 
de Saci does not come," then correcting herself, she told us 
not to hurry him, lest it should be inconvenient. However, I 
sent for him again, seeing that she was rapidly sinking. 

While they were gone for M. de Saci, she said, " You had 
better begin the prayers," which I did. The poor child made 
all the responses, kissing the crucifix which she held. Her 
pulse grew stronger, and thinking that it might continue so, 
M. de Saci and the community retired. Theu I asked her 



200 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

if she had not firm faith in GocFs mercy. She replied with 
deep feeling, " I do not know whether I am worthy to have 
faith in it." I told her that we could not trust His mercy 
too fully, because it is infinite. She understood me perfectly.- 
Afterwards I asked if she were not very glad to die a nun, 
and she attempted to manifest her great gratitude for such 
favor. Shortly after, the Mother Prioress repeated a prayer, to 
which she listened attentively. Seeing her fail so fast, we 
thought she ought to receive the communion once more, 
though she had taken it and undergone extreme unction on 
the fourteenth day of her sickness. She showed a strong 
desire to do so, and I believe her last words were on this sub- 
ject ; for immediately afterwards, while the room was being 
prepared, she was struck with death so suddenly, that we had 
hardly time to call M. de Saci and the community, and they 
had but just entered the room, when her breath ceased so 
gently that we could scarcely perceive it. 

These, dear sister, are great reasons for consolation, or 
they seem so to me. I have no time to add more, because 
the letters are called for. 

From Port Royal des Champs, Oct. 1, 1660. 



fmccutioit attft £tat(r. 

The last letters written by Jaqucline to lier brother 
and Madame Perier are very cheerful in their tone, 
although, as we see, the multitude of her cares in the 
Noviciate had prevented her from wishing Pascal a 
happy new-year until November. 

November 16, 1660. 
Good morning and a happy new-year to you, my dearest 
brother, for you will not doubt my having wished you this 
most cordially when the year began, though I could not tell 
you so until its close. I dare say you wonder at my mention- 
ing it at all, but it is right that the wish should end where it 
began, and I assure you that my complete dedication of this 
year to God has not robbed you of anything you had reason 
to expect from me, for I have prayed for you continually. O 
when I think how peacefully this season of separation, which 
we naturally expected would prove so painful, has passed 
away, and how swiftly this year has tied, time seems of such 
small importance that I cannot help longing for eternity. But 
I am not going on with so extensive a train of thought, which 
I indeed commenced unintentionally To your- 
self I say nothing; you ought to judge of my love by your 
own, and to be certain that I am entirely yours in Him who 
has united us more closely in the bonds of grace than in those 
of nature. 

9* 



202 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

Early in the following year she congratulated Mad. 
Perier on the youthful piety of her two daughters 
and her eldest son, Etienne Perier.* The latter was 
born at Eouen, and educated under the eye of his 
grandfather Pascal until the latter's death, when he 
was sent to school at Port Eoyal. Like the rest of the 
family, he showed great precocity of intellect. Mar- 
garet Perier relates that when he was hardly five years 
old, and his mother was one day trying to teach him 
from the catechism, that God is a spirit, and has 
neither beginning nor end, he observed, " I can under- 
stand how God has no end, but not how it is that He 
never had a beginning." Madame Perier told him 
that it was nevertheless a truth which all persons were 
required to believe whether they understood it or not. 
" Will the saints understand it in Heaven?" asked the 
child. She replied that in Heaven the saints are to 
see God as He is, and to know Him perfectly. " What 
a great reward !" was the answer of the infant meta* 
physician. 

TO MADAME PERIER. 

Port Royal des Champs, March 24, 1661. 
The retirement of this season of the year may prevent me 
from sending you a full letter, dear sister, but cannot excuse 
me from writing at all, because I have only to communicate 

* Etienne Perier did not ultimately fulfil the wishes and prayers 
of his auut, by embracing a monastic life, although his piety was un- 
doubted. Having been driven, together with their other pupils, from 
the tchools of the recluses, when persecution broke those up, he after- 



203 

whal is holy, namely, the effects of God's mercy, of which we 
have already had an earnest. For you know thai bodily 

healing is but an instalmenl of g I, a tokep, bo t<> speak, 

worth far more than it is in itself. This is beginning to prove 
true in a double sense, for while the wonderful miracle only 
cured one of your daughters, we have now reason to hope that 
both will be secured from the evil thai is in the world. The 
elder has spoken admirably to M. de Rebours, and as for the 
younger, she is so devout, that if her stale of mind continues, 
we shall not be able to help admitting her anion-- the novices 
at an earlier age than usual, if, as 1 suppose, you and her 
father both intend to give her up to God. She says thai her 
miracle is an especial privilege, and we can hardly avoid the 
same conclusion. And your eldest son, too, has been to see 
M. Singlin, and opened his mind to him, saying that hois 
quite disgusted with the world, and only desires to enter upon 
a religious life. M. Singlin did his best to try him, even telling 
him that his father was so excellent a man and so great a 
judge, that it was to be hoped he would follow in his steps, 
and that to dispense justice rightly was a service well-pl 
to God. But this consideration did not move him in the least 
then, and still less afterwards, for M. Singlin seeing him so 
firm, took his part, and encouraged him, to the best of his 
ability, in his design, which is very good. He means to live 
with M. do Tillemont* and M. du Fosse, who are two of the 
best people that can be found anywhere. M. Singlin ordered 
me to write you word of this, notwithstanding Lent, that 
you and his father may both rejoice and give thanks to God, etc. 

wards turned his attention to mathematics and the bar, succeeded his 
father as Counsellor of the Court of Excise at Clermont, was married 
in 1678, and died two years afterwards. 

He held all the opinions of his uncle Pascal, took an active part in 
the arrangement of the Pensees, and wrote the preface. 

* A good Jansenist, one of the greatest names among all the writers 
of ecclesiastical history, and of whose exact and profound remarks 
the iufidcl Gibbon makes large and constant use. 



204 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

While the arrows of the Provincial Letters were 
penetrating even to the remotest parts of the kingdom, 
and rousing all who had any ground of complaint 
against the Jesuits, to take part in the onset against 
them, headed by Pascal, the new Gideon, that knew 
not St. Cyran, while the provincial assemblies of cler- 
gymen originally convened in opposition to the " fait" 
of the five propositions, were openly censuring the 
Jesuit morality, and while the disciples of Loyola had 
much ado to stand their ground in the provinces, in 
Paris they were already meditating a decisive blow 
at Port Eoyal. The brief respite procured by the 
Holy Thorn expired with the death of Mazarin and 
the authority of Anne of Austria. The young king, 
Louis XIY., had been trained up in the abhorrence 
of Jansenism, and at his command a synod of French 
clergy drew up an anti-Jansenist test, to be taken by 
all ecclesiastics and communities, from which there 
was no escape. All were required, under penalties of 
extreme severity, to sign a declaration that the five 
heretical propositions were to be found in the book of 
Jansenius, with no exception on behalf of those who 
had never seen the volumes, or who could not read 
Latin. 

The Formulary ran thus : 

I sincerely submit to the constitution of Pope Innocent X., 
of May 31, 1653, according to its true sense, as defined by 
the constitution of our holy Father, Pope Alexander VII., of 
October 16, 1656. I acknowledge myself bound in conscience 



PEESECUTION AND DEATH. 205 

to obey this constitution, and I condemn, from my heart, and 
with my mouth, the doctrine of the five propositions of Cor- 
nelius Jansenius, which are contained in the hook entitled 
" Augustinus," which both these popes and the bishops have 
condemned ; and this doctrine is not of St. Augustine, which 
Jansenius has falsely set forth ; but contrary to the true sense 
of the holy doctor. 

It was of course impossible for the Port Royalists 
to sign such a document, and their crafty enemies, the 
Jesuits, were not likely to grant them am' quarter. 

" Persecution," says Tregelles, " now commenced in earnest 
The dungeons of the Bastile were crowded with those who 
refused to violate their consciences by subscribing what they 
did not believe. The very passages of the fortress were occu- 
pied by prisoners. M. de Saci, the nephew of the Mere An- 
gelique, carried on during this imprisonment his well-known 
version of the Holy Scriptures. Henri Arnauld, Bishop of 
Anjou, and three other bishops, refused to accept the formu- 
lary, let the consequences be what they might. But it was 
upon Port Royal that the principal fury of the tempest dis- 
charged itself." 

In April, 1661, an order from the court enjoined the 
two recusant convents to send all their scholars and 
novices back to the families from whence they came. 
The Mere Angelique, then at an advanced age, and 
suffering from the disease (dropsy) of which she soon 
afterwards died, took a solemn farewell of the nuns 
at Port Royal des Champs, and removed to Paris, in 
order to be present at the dispersion, saying, as she 



206 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

slopped into the carriage, to her brother M. d'Andilly, 
who was standing by, " Farewell, brother, keep up 
a good heart, let what will happen." He answered, 
" Fear nothing, sister, I am full of courage." " Yet 
let us be humble," said she, "remembering that hu- 
mility without firmness, is cowardice, but courage 
without humility, is presumption." 

Terrible was the struggle of parting in both houses, 
although the Abbesses did all they could to inspire 
faith and fortitude in the hearts of their charge, and 
set an example of mingled courage and submission 
themselves. On her arrival in Paris, AngeTique had 
the pain of seeing seventy-five scholars, novices, and 
postulants removed by force from the shelter of Port 
Eoyal. 

Jaqueline and Margaret Perier were sent to their 
mother, who was then living in the Eue St. Etienne 
du Mont, Paris, and their aunt soon afterwards wrote 
them a letter of consolation and warning, advising 
them to retire as much as possible from society. " I 
do not," she says, " mean you to be discourteous, nor 
to seclude yourselves entirely, but to seek retirement 
when not absolutely obliged to mingle in society, and 
when you are, to snatch a few moments frequently for 
communion with God." 

The nuns were soon exposed to personal trials. 
One of the Grand Yicars of the Archbishopric of 
Paris was sent to Port Eoyal for the purpose of ques- 
tioning them as to their belief. Jaqueline wrote down 



PEESECUTION AND DEATH. 207 

the details of her own examination, which were after- 
wards published in the " History of the Persecutions 
of the Port Koyalist Nuns." 

.After asking my name, and praising Saint Euphemia very 
highly, he (the Commissioner) inquired if I had not perceived 
a change in the doctrines inculcated in the convent, since my 
residence there. I told him that I had not been an inmate 
very long, and could only say that nothing had been said to 
me on matters of faith, which I had not learnt in my child- 
hood. 

Question. Did you, when a child, learn that .Jesus Christ 
died for all nun '. 

Answer. I do not recollect thai it was so Btated in my cate- 
chism. 

Q. Since your residence here, have you heen taught any- 
thing on this subject ? 

A. No. 

Q. What is your own opinion ? 

A. I am not accustomed to dive into matters unconnected 
with duty, but it seems to me that we ought to believe that 
Christ died for all men, for I remember some lines in a volume 
of devotion, which I owned before I took the veil, and have 
kept ever since, where, addressing our Saviour, it says : " For 
the salvation of all men, Thou didst humble Thyself to be born 
of a virgin." 

He smiled a little at this, and said, " Very good, but how 
comes it then that so many are lost eternally ?" 

A. I confess to you, sir, that this thought often troubles me, 
and when I am praying, especially if kneeliug before a cruci- 
fix, and it recurs to me, I cannot help saying internally to our 
Lord, " my God ! how can it be, after all Thou hast done 
for us, that so* many souls should miserably perish ? But 
when these thoughts come, I repress them, not daring to pry 
into the secrets of God, and I find satisfaction in praying for 



208 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

sinners. He replied : " That is quite right, ray daughter. 
What books do you read ?" 

A. At present, St. Basil on Morality, which has lately been 
translated, but more often my rule (the rule of St. Benedict). 

Q. How are you occupied ? 

A. Before the novices and candidates for the veil were re- 
moved, I took the charge of those who were here. But now 
the number is limited to a few nuns, a novice, and some lay 
sisters. 

Q. It was a hard trial for you when the novices were re- 
moved, was it not ? In answer to this, I enlarged considerably, 
not showing any resentment, but dwelling on the grief they 
felt, and the dangers to which they were exposed in the world. 
This seemed to touch him also, and then he said : " Do you 
teach your novices that Christ died for all men, and the rea- 
son why some men are holy and others wicked ?" 

A. As I avoid puzzling myself with these topics, it is not 
likely that I should seek to puzzle them. On the contrary, I 
try to have them as simple-minded as possible. He answered, 
" That is right. And do you teach them that they alone are 
to blame when they do wrong ? Or do you not believe this 
yourself?" 

A. Yes, sir, and I know it by my own experience. I as- 
sure you that when I commit a fault, I blame no one but my- 
self, and for this reason I endeavor to repent and atone for 
it. He said, " You are right, and God be praised for it. I 
believe you are speaking to me in all sincerity ?" 

A. Yes, sir, as in the sight of God. 

He added, " I believe you, and God's name be praised that 
it is so. My daughter, always maintain this belief, whatever 
you may hear, and teach it to the novices. I thank God with 
my whole heart for having kept you from error ; for it is 
really horrible that any man should be found to teach that 
God draws some from the corrupt mass, and leaves others to 
perish as it pleases Him. It is horrible. God be praised 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 209 

that you have not fallen into this great error. Have you no 
complaints to make ?" 

A. No, sir; by God's grace, I am quite contented. He 

said, "That is wonderful; I sometimes meet with nuns who 
keep me two whole hours listening to their complainings, but 
I find nothing of the sort here." 

A. It is true, sir, that by the grace of God we do live in 
great peace and harmony. I think it is because each one does 
her own duty, not meddling with that of others, II. ex- 
claimed, "Ah, that is indeed a blessing, God be praised for it, 
my daughter. Send me the sister next in order to yourself." 

* " Every effort that could be devised was put forth 
to make the nuns sign the formulary. How could 
they be so obstinate in their own opinions; to the 
matter in question — whether certain propositions are 
in a book or not — such, that it should be treated as 
one of great importance ? Why should such a point 
be made about upholding the writings and opinions 
of one man ? 

" The replies to these considerations were simple and 
easy. It was not the magnitude of the point at issue, 
but its truth that gave it its importance. They did 
not believe the propositions were in Jansenius, they 
could not therefore declare them to be there: they 
did not believe that Jansenius had misrepresented St. 
Augustine, nor could they on such grounds say that 
he had done so. And as to maintaining one person's 
opinions, they could only say that they had not raised 

* "The Jansenists: their Rise and Sufferings. A chapter in Church 
History," by S. P. Tregelles, L.L.D. London: 1851. 



210 JAQUELIKE PASCAL. 

the controversy, but those who had impugned Jansen- 
ius. As to themselves personally, the nuns stated that 
the work of Jansenius being in Latin, they could not 
declare on oath what its contents might be, for they 
had not even read it ; they knew, however, that no 
one had pointed out the propositions, as condemned, 
in the work itself." 

Meanwhile Arnaulcl and the other men of note 
belonging to the Jansenist party held many consulta- 
tions on the best method of evading the snare so 
craftily laid for them by the Jesuits. Their dilemma 
was cruelly painful. If, by signing the formulary, 
they asserted that the five propositions were in the 
Augustinus, they would be guilty of falsehood ; and, 
on the other hand, if they refused to sign, the destruc- 
tion of the convents was inevitable, and the helpless 
nuns must become the first victims. » 

The suggestion of a compromise was therefore eagerly 
caught at, and a treaty with the archbishopric of Paris 
began, for the purpose of obtaining a modified declara- 
tion (mandement) that might be subscribed without 
the signers becoming guilty of high treason against 
conscience. Many were the outlines of the desired 
compact between sincerity and prudence, and great 
was the division of opinion between the Jansenist 
leaders on the propriety of signing at all. 

Arnauld and Nicole, for the sake of the nuns, were 
in favor of a signature to be given with certain reserva- 
tions, but Pascal, though confined to his bed by illness, 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 211 

had already made his election, and determined at all 
hazards to abide by the truth. He felt convinced that 
the Pope, by condemning the work of Jansenius, not 
only proved that he misunderstood its meaning, but vir- 
tually condemned the doctrines of justification by faith 
and salvation by grace, which the Apostles taught, and 
for which the primitive church and St. Augustine had 
contended. It grieved him, he said, to find himself in 
a strait between God and the Pope, but he could not 
sanction the sacrifice of truth to expediency, knoi 
such a course to be wrong, and believing it to be use- 
less. Arnauld and Nicole urged that it was disre- 
spectful to the Pope and the Bishops to assert that 
they had condemned the doctrines of grace, as well as 
prejudicial to the doctrines themselves to have it gen- 
erally known that they were given up by the great 
mass of ecclesiastics in authority, and only defended 
by a small clique. But Pascal was stubborn in his un- 
conscious Protestanism, and would not admit any con- 
sideration as superior to the duty of maintaining God's 
truth against all odds. He did not object, however, 
to the nuns' signing the modified formulary, provided 
they made a distinct exception in favor of the mean- 
ing of Jansenius, and of the doctrines of grace. The 
last conference was held in his chamber, when the 
majority of those present, yielding to the influence of 
Arnauld and Nicole, voted for the signature. " Seeing 
which," says Margaret Perier, "M._ Pascal, who loved 
truth more than all things else, and who, in spite of 



212 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

his weakness, had spoken with great earnestness in 
order to impress his own convictions upon the others, 
was so overcome with grief that he became suddenly 
faint, and lost both voice and consciousness. Great 
astonishment ensued, and remedies were eagerly ap 
plied, after which the gentlemen all went away, except 
M. de Eoannez and M. Domat* (Pascal's most intimate 
friends), and Etienne Perier. "When Pascal had quite 
recovered his senses, Madame Perier asked him what 
had occasioned the swoon? He replied, "When I 
beheld so many persons to whom I believe that God 
has made known His truth, and who ought to be its 
defenders, thus giving way, I confess to you such a 
feeling of distress came over me, that I could not bear 
it, nor keep myself from fainting." 

In this conjuncture, Jaqueline Pascal manifested the 
same intrepid and fiery disposition as her brother. 
Indeed, the women of Port Royal, as a general thing, 
displayed more decision and courage than its men. 
Witness the expressions with wnich Angelique, though 
bowed under the weight of age and infirmity, sus- 
tained the drooping spirits of the desolate nuns. 
" What ! do I see you in tears ? my children ; what do 
those tears mean? — have you no faith? Are you 
afraid of the wrath of men ? They are but flies who 
spread their wings and make a little noise. You hope 
in God, how then can you be alarmed ? Believe me, 

* One of the most eminent of the French writers on the civil law, 
and a firm Jansenist. 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 213 

if we fear Him, all will go well;" — or her reply to 
the Duchess de Luynes, who was congratulating her 
on the possession of so much courage, "Madame, so 
long as God continues to be God, I shall hope in Him 
and not be afraid." Public and private seasons of 
special prayer were of course appointed in both con- 
vents, and it was with the utmost reluctance that the 
nuns at length submitted to the decision of their con- 
fessors, and signed the qualified declaration. The 
prioress of Port Koyal des Champs, Marie de Ste 
Madeline Dufargis, and the sub-prioress, Jaqueline 
Pascal, refused for a long time to sign. "Jaqueline, 
strange to say, though not aware of what had passed 
in the meetings held at Paris, used the same argu- 
ments, and even some of the same words which Pas- 
cal had done. She could not understand, any more 
than he, how men, claiming to be the defenders of the 
truth, could possibly abandon it on any consideration 
of expediency. Her intrepid heart, brought face to 
face with danger, broke forth in proud yet pathetic 
strains, which remind us of some of the finest passages 
in the Provincial Letters. "We ask," says M. Cousin, 
" of all who yet retain any sympathy with energy of 
character, and with the beauty of an unselfish love 
for truth, if they have ever met with many pages of 
greater sublimity and strength than these w r hich we 
are about to lay before them ?" In June, 1661, Jaque- 
line addressed the following letter to the Mere Angel- 
ique de Saint Jean. It was afterwards inserted in 



214 JAQUEL1NE PASCAL. 

the "History of the Persecutions of the Port Royal 
Nuns ":— 

Poet Royaj, des Champs, June 25, 1G61. 
My very dear Sister, 

The little notice that has hitherto been taken of our 
scruples in regard to giving our assent to the treaty now 
under deliberation, would prevent me from recapitulating them 
now, since they seem to be thought of such slight importance, 
did the thing admit of delay. I think it, however, my duty 
to tell you that the difficulties stated by me in writing to our 
Mother, referred only to the " Mandement," a copy of which, 
by a most singular chance, fell into our hands. Had our anx- 
ieties been at all regarded, or had our remonstrances produced 
any effect, I should say it had been sent to us by the provi- 
dence of God. 

The feelings of the entire sisterhood upon this subject are 
now unanimous. Yet we distinctly understand the pretence 
that the requisition of our signatures only binds us to submission 
to the Church, that is, to silence on matters of fact, and be- 
lief in matters of faith. But the time for this has gone by. 
Most of us heartily wish that something worse had been de- 
manded, (knowing that in the times wherein we live, it were 
vain to hope for anything better,) because, if it were worse, 
we should all feel at full liberty to reject it, while as it is, 
many will be almost constrained to accept it, and false pru- 
dence or real cowardice will cause many others to embrace 
it as an easy mode of procuring safety for the conscience, and 
for the body as w r ell. But for my own part, I am convinced 
that in such a course there can be safety neither for body nor 
soul. Truth is the only real Liberator, and she makes none 
free but those who strike off her own fetters — who bear wit- 
ness to her with a fidelity that entitles them to be acknowl- 
edged as the true children of God the True. 

I cannot any longer conceal the regret whicb rives my very 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 215 

soul -when 1 see the only 1 persons to whom < rod baa committed 
His own truth so unfaithful to it, ami, if I may be allowed 
tlif term, destitute of the courage necessary to brave Buffering 
and even death by its open confession. 

I am well aware of the reverence that is due to the authori- 
ties of the Church. I would gladly lay down my life in order 
to preserve that reverence inviolate, just as in th<- present 
juncture I am prepared, by God's help, to die for the con- 
fession of my faith, but it seems to me that nothing can be 
easier than to unite the two. What is to prevent us — what 
is to prevent every ecclesiastic cognizant of the truth from 
answering, when the formulary is presented for signature, " I 
know that I am bound to respect their Lordships the Bishops, 
but my conscience does not aflow me to subscribe the state- 
ment that anything is contained in a book which I cannot 
discover in that book," and «ten quietly to await the result i 
What are we afraid of ? Banishment and dispersion for the 
nuns, the seizure of property, prison, death if you will, — but 
are not these things our glory, and ought we not therein to 
rejoice ? 

Let us either give up the Gospel, or let us carry out its 
principles, and esteem ourselves happy in Buffering for the 
truth's sake. But Ave may perhaps be cast out from the 
Church ! True, and yet who does not know that no one can 
be really detached from the Church except by his own will ? 
The spirit of Jesus Christ is the tie that binds His members to 
Himself and to one another, and though the outward signs 
of that union may be taken from us, its effect cannot be taken 
so long as we retain the spirit of love, without which no one 
is a living member of that holy body. Is it not plain, there- 
fore, so long as Ave do not erect altar against -altar, while Ave 
are not wretched enough to form a schismatic church, and 
while Ave continue within the limits of simple remonstrance, 
and meek endurance of persecution, that the charity which 
leads us to love our enemies must of necessity attach us to 



216 JAQTJELLNE PASCAL. 

the Church by inviolable bonds. Our enemies alone will have 
excommunicated themselves, since the divisions they are try- 
ing to produce do but sever the bond of charity which once 
united them to Jesus Christ, and rendered them members of 
his body. Alas ! my dear sister, what joy ought we not to 
feel, if we are permitted to endure some special reproach for 
Christ's sake ! But there is too much pains taken to prevent 
this, when truth is so skilfully painted with the colors of false- 
hood, that she cannot be recognized, and the most keen-sighted 
can with difficulty detect her. 

Yet I admire the ingenuity of the human mind, as dis- 
played in the perfection with which the " Mandement" is 
drawn up. It must be a rare thing, I should think, to find a 
piece of writing composed with equal art and skill. Had it 
been the work of a heretic, I should consider it worthy of high 
praise for its adroitness in evading punishment without recant- 
ing error ; just as the head of a family might not be able to 
help marvelling at the ingenuity with which his steward had 
cheated him, by tacitly consenting to a falsehood, although 
he may not have actually told one. But for the faithful — 
for persons who know and maintain truth — for members of 
the Catholic Church to stoop to such disguises, and to play 
fast and loose ! 

I cannot believe that such a thing was ever thought of in 
primitive ages, and I pray God this day rather to strike us 
all dead, than to suffer such an abomination to be introduced 
into the Church ! I find it difficult, dear sister, I assure you, 
to believe that this sort of wisdom comes from the Father of 
lights, for it seems far more like a revelation of flesh and 
blood. 

Forgive me, my dear sister, I beg. I speak in the agony 
of a gi'ief which I am certain will kill me, unless I have the 
consolation of seeing that some are willing to come forward as 
martyrs for the faith, to protest either by refusal or by flight 
against the acts of others, and to become themselves cham- 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 217 

pions of the truth. Not that T am desirous that any uncalled- 
for declaration Bhould be made, especially at the present time, 
when the enemies of truth are so envenomed and powerful. 
By the way, you are doubtless aware that the condemnation 

of a holy bishop (Jansenius) is by no means the only question 
in debate. His condemnation includes that of the doctrine 
of our Saviour's grace. If, therefore, our age be so degenerate 
that none are found willing to die in defence of a righteous 
man, is it not far more dreadful to think that no one is dis- 
posed to suffer for the sake of righteousness itself? 

However, I do not wish for any one to make a public pro- 
fession of faith, for unquestionably, in the present state of 
affairs, yes and of persons also, whom God has left to become 
the slaves of their own will and passions, nothing short of a 
miracle could save the truth from condemnation. And the 
more clearly we explained that truth, the more occasion of 
sin should we furnish to those who are obstinately bent on 
condemning it. But what I do desire is, that while strictly 
observing all proper deference towards the powers that be, 
and making neither accusations nor reproaches, there should 
at the same time be a firm determination of giving no reason 
to believe that the truth itself has been condemned, or even 
evaded. For I ask you, dear sister, in God's name, to tell 
me what difference you can find between these evasions and 
the offering of incense to an idol, as defended by the pretext 
of having meanwhile a crucifix hidden in one's sleeve ?* 

You will perhaps say that this does not concern us, because 
of our own private formulary. But I have two things to say on 
that head. One is, that St. Bernard teaches us, in his admirable 
manner, that the most insignificant member of the Church 

* See the fifth Provincial Letter. Jaqueline here retorts upon the 
Jansenists the reproach which Pascal addressed to the Jesuits for 
having allowed the Christian converts in India and China to pay 
outward homage to idols, provided that they referred that worship 
mentally to an image of Jesus Christ hidden under their clothes. 
10 



218 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

not only may but ought to cry aloud and spare not, when he 
sees the bishops and .pastors of the Church in such a state as 
we behold them now. Who, says he, can blame me for 
calling out, though I am but a feeble sheep, if I try to awaken 
my shepherd when I see him asleep and on the point of being 
devoured by a wild beast ? Even were I so ungrateful as not 
to do this out of love and gratitude, ought not a sense of my 
own peril to prompt my utmost efforts to arouse him. For 
who is to defend me when my pastor is devoured ? I do not say 
this in reference to our own spiritual fathers and friends ; I know 
that they themselves detest every species of duplicity quite as 
much as I do, but I say it in reference to the general condition 
of the Church, and to justify the deep interest I take in this 
matter, both to you and to myself. 

My other answer is, that hitherto I have not been able to 
give my thorough approval to your formulary as it is. I should 
like to have a change made in two places. The first at the 
beginning, because it seems hard for persons like us to offer so 
freely to give account of our faith. I would do this, however, 
with a little preamble, explaining away the consequences and 
the unseemliness of such a confession ; for there is no ques- 
tion but that this whole affair of the required Signature and 
' Declaration of faith is a usurpation of power, which brings 
very dangerous consequences in its train, more especially as it 
is demanded by authority of the king. Now 1 do not consider 
that private individuals ought to resist that authority, but 
neither ought they to yield to it without some intimations 
that they do so, not out of ignorance, or because it is their 
duty, but as submitting to endure wrong rather than occasion 
scandal. The second is towards the close, where I would rather 
not mention the decisions of the Vatican; for though it is true 
that we submit to those decisions in matters of faith, yet the 
vulgar confound fact and right by reason of ignorance, and 
interested persons choose to confound them by reason of self- 
will, and thus they are looked upon as one and the same 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 219 

thing. What effect, then, would your formulary produce ex- 
cept (n make ignorance believe and malice assert that we have 
agreed to everything, and that we condemn the doctrines of 
Jansenius, for these are plainly censured in the last bull. 

I know very well that the defence of truth is not women's 
business, though in a melancholy sense, it may be affirmed 
that when bishops seem to have the cowar.liec.it' women, 
women ought to have the boldness of bishops. And if 
not to be defenders of the truth, we can at least die for it, and 
suffer everything rather than abandon it. 

A comparison occurs to me, which may serve to illustrate 
my idea upon the decisions of the Holy See. Though every 
one knows that the mystery of the Trinity is one of the prom- 
inent articles of our faith, which St. Augustine would unques- 
tionably confess and willingly sign, nevertheless if his native 
country were in possession of a pagan prime, who wished to 
have the unity of God denied, and a plurality of deities ac- 
knowledged, and supposing that some of the Christians in 
order to quiet the commotions excited by such a proceeding 
were to compile a formulary of faith on the subject, running 
thus: "I believe that there are several persons to whom we 
may give the name of God, and address our prayers,''" without 
any further explanation, would St. Augustine sign it? As- 
suredly I do not believe he would. Still less do I think he 
ought to sign it, though the truth be one which no true be- 
liever would doubt, — but which no true believer ought to ac- 
knoAvledge at such a time, nor in such a way. You can easily 
make the application. It may be said that our authority is 
not of the same weight as St. Augustine's, and that, in fact, it 
is of no weight at all. To this I answer in the first place, 
that I have only mentioned St. Augustine by way of reference 
to the reply given by you a few days ago, when I stated my 
difficulties, which was, that our fears would only be laughed 
at, and that St. Augustine would sign the paper that we were 
so much afraid of. But what I say of St. Augustine, I say 



220 JAQTJELINE PASCAL. 

also of you and of myself, and of the least important in the 
Church, for the feebleness of our influence does not lessen our 
guilt if we use that influence against the truth. Every one 
knows, and M. de St. Cyran says it in a thousand places, that 
the least truth of religion ought to be as faithfully defended 
as Christ himself. Where is the Christian -who would not 
abhor himself, if it were possible for him to have been pres- 
ent in Pilate's council, and if, when the question of condemn- 
ing our Saviour to death arose, he had been content with 
an ambiguous way of stating his opinion, so that he might 
appear to agree with those who condemned his Master, though 
his words in their literal meaning, and according to his own 
conscience, tended to an acquittal. 

Is not the sin of St. Peter trivial in comparison of so ex- 
treme a timidity, and yet how did he regard that sin through 
his whole after life ? And we are also to note well, that though 
destined to become the head of the Church, he was not its 
head then. So that his was only the sin of a private believer, 
who did not say, as in the present case, " This man is a sinner, 
he is worthy of death, crucify him," who did not even pretend 
to say it. What he said was, simply, " I know not the man." 
Follow this comparison to its last results, I beseech you. 

My letter is only too long already. This, dear sister, is what 
I think about the formulary. I see clearly that it need not 
contain a full confession of faith, but I should like to have 
what it does contain, clearly and distinctly expressed. For 
ignorant as we are, all that we can reasonably be required 
to sign is a testimonial to the sincerity of our belief, and to 
our perfect submission to the Church, to the Pope as its su- 
preme head, and to the Archbishop of Paris as our superior, 
stating that although we do not consider it right to demand 
an account of their faith in this matter from persons who never 
gave any occasion for that faith to be called in question, never- 
theless in order to avoid the scandal and the suspicions to 
which our refusal might give birth, we do hereby testify, that 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 221 

esteeming nothing so precious as the treasure of a pure and 
unadulterated faith, and willing to yield our Uvea for its pres- 
ervation, we desire to live and die as humble daughters of the 
Catholic church, believing whatever she believes, and ready at 
all times to die in defence of her leasl important truths. If 
they are satisfied with this, well and good; if not, for my part 
I shall never sign any other, it' it please God. This is all that 
I think we ought to concede, let what will happen. Poverty, 
dispersion, imprisonment, death, all tins.' Beem a- nothing to 
me compared with the anguish of my whole future life, it' I 
should be wretched enough to make a league with death, in- 
stead "\' profiting bj such an opportunity of paying to God 
the vows of fidelity which my lip- have pronounced. 

Let us pray to God for one another, my dear sister, that he 
would more and more strengthen us and make us humble, 
since humility without fortitude, and courage without humil- 
ity, are equally pernicious. Now, more than ever, we should 
recollect that the fearful have their place with the perjured 
and the abominable. 

Do not be shocked at my complaints that so little notice 
has been taken of our scruples. This gave me no trouble 
whatever. I am used to be treated as a child, and God grant 
that it may be so always. But the subject led me thither un- 
designedly, and I do not regret it, because if similar circum- 
stances should ever occur again, it will be known that we are 
not to be satisfied with the assurance that our scruples are 
ridiculous, while no reasons are assigned. Farewell, dear 
sister. In the condition of our beloved invalid, if the thing 
•were not so pressing, I should not have written a word on the 
subject. 

I believe, my dear sister, that it is needless for me to say 
I make no objection whatever to the words of your formulary, 
and that I do not care what terms are used, provided no rea- 
son be given to think that we censure either the grace of Je- 
sus Christ or him who has so well explained its doctrines. 



222 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

Therefore, in adopting the words "believe all that the 
Church believes," I have omitted " and condemn whatever she 
condemns ;" though I do in reality condemn what the Church 
condemns, but I do not believe it a fitting time to say so, 
lest the Church should be confounded with the present decis- 
ions. Even as M. de St. Cyran says, that the pagans having 
placed an idol on the very spot where once stood the cross of 
our Lord, the Christians would not go thither to worship, lest 
it should be supposed that they were worshipping the idol. 

Jaqueline, on reflection, thought it would be more 
honorable as well as truthful to send this letter to M. 
Arnauld himself, hoping, as the " History of the Per- 
secution" informs us, that he would not feel hurt at 
the severe terms in which she had expressed herself, 
although her remarks touched him more nearly than 
they did any one else. She therefore enclosed her 
letter on the Formulary in another, which ran as fol- 
lows : 

At Eve, June 23, 1661. 
My Father, 

The ordinary rules of politeness would require of me 
many compliments, and the expression of much delight at 
having an opportunity of writing you, since, as you are aware, 
it is so rare a pleasure, but in truth the state of the Church 
and of our dear mother, deprives me of the heart to attempt 
such civilities. And besides, my father, I should be very un- 
just to your kindness did I imagine that you could think it 
possible for my regard for you to vary. The command you 
have sent us in the note received this morning, gives me a 
suitable occasion of doing something to which I have hitherto 
been prompted only by internal desire, which is not always 
a safe guide. Yesterday, my father, after having received the 



PERSECUTION AXD DEATH. 223 

communion with a very sad heart, on account of what has 
transpired, I felt, while returning thanks, or rather while sigh- 
ing "ill my soul before < !od, a strong desire to write down all 
my thoughts on the matter, or at least the chief of them, for 
many quires of paper would not contain the whole. Not 
knowing whom to address, I bethought myself of Bister An- 
gelique, and to ber T at once indited this long letter, firsl in- 
voking God ami His Holy Spiril on behalf of the persons 
who should answer it, and afterwards writing what I had to 
say without premeditation as last as nay pen would move. 
Your note of to-day enabled me to finish it with more cour- 
age, and I send it to you as it is, my father, because I cannot 
find time to write it over again and address it to yourself. 

You will sec that it is written with a margin. If vm will 
have the kindness to answer each paragraph upon that mar- 
gin, I shall feel greatly obliged ; but it' you prefer to write a 
separate answer, and if you think lit, after reading it yourself, 
to send it to Sister Angelique, L will inform her that 1 have 
asked you so to do. If, however, you write your answers upon 
the letter itself, please to send it direct to me, for I only 
wish her to have it in case no one else replies to it, so that 
she may herself answer it. And whether your response is 
written on the letter itself or separately, I will, with your per- 
mission, send it to her, but I should be very glad to see it be- 
forehand. You will perceive, my father, that I have felt and 
expressed no little indignation at the proceedings, for it ap- 
peared to me that, apart from the right which each one has to 
take his own view of things and sustain it with what reasons he 
can, it was my privilege to speak with more freedom than 
others, on account of one'* who is so much concerned in the 
matter. I am beyond measure delighted with his zeal, and I 
cannot but think that it is the work of God's Spirit inspiring 
him to do that which will relieve the consciences of a large 
number of persons, who would otherwise suffer themselves to 
* Doubtless meaning her brother Pascal. 



224 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

be led as sheep to the slaughter. For in times like these, 
■when it were useless to hope that those in authority over the 
Chinch at Paris, would be courageous enough to set an ex- 
ample of martyrdom to their diocese, it was worthy the piety 
of some to devise a way, almost unconsciously to most of their 
number, whereby it became possible to avoid doing anything 
in opposition to the truth. They have acted like a wise 
father who blunts the edge of the knife before giving it to his 
child. In short, to express my idea in one word, the evil that 
might have been done is prevented ; and this is no slight 
praise, since the Church itself applies it to the saints, who 
might have sinned, and they sinned not. But it does appear 
to me, my father, that what suffices for some, would be a 
terrible falling short in others. It is all very well to have 
things arranged as they now are, provided that persons pos- 
sessing more courage are permitted to go farther, and pro- 
vided that it is not pretended we are to be saved by concealing 
the truth, and being satisfied with not openly censuring it, 
although we do apparently censure it. Truly, my father, this 
seems like an imitation of those who say that we are not 
obliged to love God, and it is enough if we do not hate Him. 
But if I begin to argue again, it will be difficult for me to 
stop. Forgive me, therefore, my father, and do not imagine, 
I beg, that though I seem courageous, nature does not dread 
the consequences, — but I trust that grace will support me, 
and indeed I almost seem to feel its power even now. I en- 
treat you most humbly, my father, to implore this grace on 
my behalf. I trust these letters entirely to your discretion. 
I had rather no one should see them but yourself and Sister 
Angelique. However, if you think proper to show them to 
M. de Gournay, you can do it. My sister also could see 
them, and perhaps my brother, if his health is good. I ask 
you, my father, to pray for me, in the name of God. 

The increasing illness of the Abbess Angelique 



PERSECUTION AND DEATH. 225 

exempted her from the necessity of signing. She 
made, however, one more effort in behalf of Port 
Royal, by addressing a long and eloquent letter of re- 
monstrance to the queen. This was the last act of her 
eventful life. After several weeks of severe bodily 
and mental anguish, unsoothed by the presence of 
those men of God who had for years been her spir- 
itual guides, she expired on the 6th of August, 16G1, 
aged 70. Among her last words were these : " Oh, 
Jesus ! Thou art my God, Thou art my righteousness, 
Thou art my strength, Thou art my all I" 

The Prioress of Port Royal des Champs, Madame 
Dufargis d'Augennes, had no hesitation in telling M. 
Arnauld that she shared the opinions and scruples 
of the Sub-Prioress, Jaqueline Pascal. That great 
man, instead of feeling annoyed at the strong objec- 
tions of the two nuns, did his best to answer them, 
in a letter which has not been preserved. His high 
authority had such weight, that in July, 1661, all the 
members of Port Royal des Champs signed, as the 
Parisian sisterhood had already done, the Prioress and 
Jaqueline adding yet another protest, in order to clear 
their consciences in some degree. Notwithstanding 
which, the remorse of these two noble women was so 
great, that both became seriously ill. The Prioress 
was with difficulty restored to health. The Sub- 
Prioress sank under her sufferings, and according to 
the presentiment expressed in her letter, died of a 
10* 



226 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

broken heart, after an illness of three months, at the 
age of thirty-six, on the 4th of October, the anniver- 
sary of her birth. 

*" The primitive Church was accustomed to style 
the clay of a martyr's death his birth-clay. Was not 
the coincidence a seal of Jaqueline's martyrdom, and 
also of the truth of those doctrines, for the sake of 
which she died ?" 

* Reuclilin. 



€\z ^nrbibori 



Madame Perier, in her life of Pascal, informs us 
how he received the news of Jaqueline's death. " She 
was assuredly the being most dear to him on earth ; 
yet when he heard the tidings he merely said, ' God 
give us grace to die as well !' And he ever after- 
wards maintained the same admirable spirit of resig- 
nation to the appointments of divine providence, his 
reflections on my sister's death being confined to the 
great mercies vouchsafed to her hy God during her 
lifetime, and the peculiar circumstances under which 
she died. When thinking of the latter, he often ex- 
claimed, ' Blessed are the dead, provided they die in 
the Lord,' and when he saw me in continual sorrow 
over a loss that I felt so keenly, he was displeased, and 
told me that it was not right." 

The melancholy temperament of Pascal, and the 
austerities to which, under the influence of a perverted 
view of life common among members of the Romish 
communion, he addicted himself in his later years, 
give him a place among the most ingenious of self- 
tormentors. Many of the learned and pious men of 



228 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

his age, as well as others less distinguished, were ac- 
customed to consult him on matters of importance. 
His prompt discernment and habit of patient attention, 
made him always a safe and often a successful coun- 
sellor. But it was his custom to wear a girdle of iron 
beneath his clothes, set round with sharp points on 
the inside, and whenever he felt the risings of compla- 
cency at the consciousness of having smoothed the 
path of some anxious friend, or at the deference paid 
him by those whose regard he most prized, a stroke 
of his elbow punished the passing gratification, and 
drove the sharp studs into his quivering side. 

It must have been a yet harder task to one so nat- 
urally affectionate and warm-hearted as he, when, from 
a sense of duty, he resolutely forbore all expressions 
of gratitude or kindness to the sister and the friends 
who were devoted to him, lest their love should de- 
generate into idolatry. Poor Gilberte, though by no 
means demonstrative herself, witness her avoiding 
Jaqueline's farewell, lest the composure of both might 
be endangered, felt grieved at her brother's seeming 
coldness. She says : " Meanwhile, as I was completely 
a stranger to his opinions on this point, I felt quite 
astonished and discouraged at his occasional rebuffs. 
I mentioned them to my sister, (Jaqueline,) and not 
without complaining that my brother was unkind and 
did not love me, for it really appeared as if I put him in 
pain, even when I sought only to please him, and to 
render him every office of affeotion in his illness." 



THE SURVIVORS. 229 

Jaqueline, better used to the sacrifice of even inno- 
cent enjoyments, told her sister that she was mistaken, 
for Blaise loved her dearly, and would take every 
opportunity of proving by his deeds the affection that 
he thought it wrong to express in words. " Which, 
indeed," says Madame Perier, " he did not fail to do." 
One of Pascal's " Pensees" offers some explanation of 
his conduct. 

It is not right for any one to be fond of me (qu'on s'attache 
& moi), even though that fondness be voluntary and delight- 
fid. I should disappoint those in whom I might call forth 
affection, because I am finite, and have therefore no power to 
satisfy them. Am I not liable at any moment to death ? 
And then the object of their attachment will be dead. As I 
should be culpable if I were to persuade others of a falsehood, 
although my manner might be gentle, and the belief of that 
untruth might afford them pleasure, so also should I be guilty 
of a great wrong if I were to attract the regard of my friends, 
and cause them to idolize me. Rather let me undeceive 
those who are ready to believe what is false, and teach others 
that they ought not to attach themselves to me, since their 
lives should be spent in communion with God and endeavors 
to please Him. 

To return to Port Eoyal, where Jaqueline was sin- 
cerely lamented as one " whose eminent piety equalled 
the sublimity of her intellect, and who was in all re- 
spects a perfect Nun,"* M. Singlin, on the day suc- 
ceeding that of her decease, addressed the following 

* See Lives of the Nuns of Port Royal. 



230 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

letter to the community, from his place of conceal- 
ment : 

It would be very difficult for me to say nothing to you on 
a matter which you, my sister Angelique de St. Jean, all who 
knew her whom you have lost, and the entire sisterhood, feel 
so deeply. My own grief is solely on your account, since on 
hers we ought to rejoice, and as to myself, I dare not grieve. 
She had, as you know, great confidence in me, and I always 
fear for those who have. And when God takes them hence in 
so happy and holy a frame of mind as was hers, I have rea- 
son to praise Him, and therefore to rejoice. My only sorrow 
is because I know there is a void in your house which it is 
impossible to fill. Yet nothing is impossible with God. Who 
can tell what is needful for us better than He ? For some days 
past I have been struck with the thought of what an imper- 
tinence it is for us to desire one thing, or to be afraid of an- 
other, to wish that this or that may or may not happen, that 
certain persons may live, or others die ! As if God, in His 
sovereign wisdom and equity, did not behold all things, and 
we were possessed of some peculiar light or discernment with- 
out which He could not in perfect righteousness order and 
govern our affairs. He understands so well what is within 
and around Him, that we have only to bow down before events 
which seem to us mysterious, because we cannot trace in them 
the wonderful harmony that is really displayed in all things, 
even in the lives and actions of wicked men, and which o-lori- 
fied spirits continually admire and adore. This thought often 
stops me when I am about to wish that God would or would 
not do anything. The death of the righteous or of the wicked, 
the prosperity or destruction of the best designs for His own 
service, as well as the surrender of our whole being to be dis- 
posed of as He shall see fit, are all involved in this one con- 
sideration. We, therefore, ought only to implore that His holy 
will may be done in all things, to consult Him in order to know 



THE SURVIVORS. 231 

that will, ami to Bubmil to every event, for fear of placing our 
own will and plans above ilis. They are happiest \\li" Buffer 
and bow down before Him at all times, and under all circum- 
stances, of affliction as well as gladness, knowing that in our 
imaginations and ignorance we frequently think that evil \\ hich 
in reality is good." 

As to the family, the Abbess Agnes undertook to 
write to Pascal, and the Mere Angelique de St. Jean 
to Madame Perier. These two, next to the Abbess 
Angelique, had been Jaqueline's most intimate friends 
at Port Koyal, and knew her best. 

From the More Angelique de St. Jean to Madame 
Perier : — 

I have no words as yet, my very dear sister, in which to 
commune with you of our mutual loss. Truly your note of 
yesterday gave my heart a pang, as unlooked for as the feeling 
of hopelessness with which I this morning waited for the in- 
telligence that crowns all our past affliction-, was bitter. I 
have just seen M. Perier, to whom I only dared mention what 
he had already learnt from your note of yesterday morning, 
because Hilary had told me that such was your wish. He 
seems so grieved, that I pity him for the sadder news he has 
yet to learn, since the too strong hopes Avhich he still persists 
in half-flattering himself, will only serve to make the blow 
more severe. He had not spoken to M. Pascal. M. de Roan- 
nez* is here, and I am very glad he is ; yet in such trials, if 
consolation come not from God, and from faith in Him, it is 
quite impossible to obtain it from any earthly source. Alas ! 
I say this as I feel it, only too sadly, for I had hoped great 
things in. all our present and future trials from her whom God 

* Pascal's intimate friend. 



232 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

has taken away, lest we should lean on her too much. Let 
His name be forever praised for all His mercies ! He has 
good reasons for all His doings ; and they all tend to the good 
of His chosen ones, who are bound to adore His decrees with- 
out attempting to penetrate His designs. I cannot tell you, 
my very dear sister, how roach I sympathize with your grief, 
nor yet how much more than ever I feel myself drawn and 
bound to you by this sad separation. 

From the Abbess Catherine Agnes de St. Paul to 
M. Pascal : — 

October 7, 1661. 
Sir, 

Although condolence is usually an intrusion on great 
afflictions like yours, yet I promise myself that you will receive 
this note as a mark of the respect which leads me to offer 
you my most humble sympathy in a trial which you cannot 
but believe that I deeply feel ; the loss being common to us 
both, and if I dare to say so, even worse for those who had to 
pass their lives with that dear sister. Our late Mother (An- 
gelique) would have greatly regretted her death, but now she 
has doubtless greeted her with joy, because her thoughts are 
no longer our thoughts, and she views our interests in a differ- 
ent light from that in which she beheld them while with us 
on the earth. Thus, too, the dear sister whom we are now 
mourning, cannot grieve over our bereavement ; since her sole 
desire for us is, that we may lose sight of self, and be com- 
pletely swallowed up in God's will, as she herself now is. The 
gospel appointed for the day of her death points out our duty 
on this occasion, and on all others, which to the eye of sense 
seems so temporary, especially when the sacrifice of our most 
legitimate affections is demanded. Jesus Christ therein sets us 
the example of consenting to whatever God does, because it 
seems good in His sight. This is all that we have now to say, 



THE SURVIVORS. 233 

except that by way of return for the deep love home to us by 
the dear departed, we are bound to give God thanks, with her 
and for her, since He so taught her to comprehend the mys- 
tery of our Saviour's humiliation, and imparted to her such 
grace, that although by nature wise and prudent, she was ena- 
bled to renounce all the advantages which He bad endowed 
her, and to take always the lowest place, far beneath others 
less acquainted with God and their own hearts than Bhe. 

You knew her worth, sir, much better than we did, and so 
sincere a Christian as you are, will give her up to God as a 
voluntary offering. It is true, as you are aware, thai < tod lays 
upon us the necessity of submission, in order thai we may nut 
be able to evade the accomplishment of His designs. [ entreat 
of Him, sir, that He would give you all the grace He now 
expects you to manifest, and help me to plead for you in His 
presence as you deserve, both on account of your own past 
kindness to me, and for the sake of her who was so near and 
dear to us both. 

I remain, sir, your very humble and obedient servant in 
Jesus Christ, 

Sister Catherine Agnes de Saint Paul, 

An unworthy nun. 

A short sketch, of the fortunes of the Pascal family 
after Jaqueline's death, may not be uninteresting to 
the reader. 

Blaise Pascal only survived his sister a few months. 
He died August 19th, 1662, aged 39, worn out with 
that disease of the head, of which his unremitting- 
studies had early laid the foundation. He endured all 
his pains with exemplary patience, saying that suffer- 
ing was the natural state of Christians, and that he 
was ashamed of having so much kindness and atten- 



234 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

tion lavished upon him, while many of Christ's poor 
members had not where to lay the head. It was even 
his wish to be carried to an hospital and left to die 
among the poor ; and when his physicians and con- 
fessor positively forbade this, he could only be quieted 
by the promise that some poor stricken creature should 
be brought to the house where he lay, and receive 
the same attendance as he did. He died in full com- 
munion with the Church of Eome, although had he 
lived, it is doubtful whether so independent and 
Bible-loving a Christian could have long remained 
unmolested within her pale. Ten years after, his 
brother-in-law, M. Perier,"* died suddenly, at the age 
of sixty-seven. His death plunged Madame Perier into 
a sea of pecuniary embarrassments, rendered all the 
more painful from the fact that her husband's generous 
and indulgent disposition had been taken undue ad- 
vantage of by those he had befriended, who instead 
of aiding her, did all they could to increase her per- 
plexities. She says, in certain letters to one of her 
friends : 

M. de Rebergues can tell you something about the horrible 
difficulties into which the attempt to settle my affaire has 
thrown me. At first I hoped that after one year I should be 
extricated, but three years Lave now gone by, and I find new 
vexations continually arising. I really think that the success 
of one rogue encourages others, for all with whom I have to 

* An interesting account of M. Perier will be found in the next 
chapter, written by the well-known theologian M. Vinet. 



THE SURVIVOkS. 235 

do cheat me in the mosl bare-faced way, and what makes this 
the more galling is, that it lias all occurred in consequence 
of M. Perier's good nature and the extreme leniency he al- 
ways showed to those indebted to him. [nd 1, sir, it would 

be impossible to tell you all I have to go through, bul we 
must submit to God's will. It is not our province to Belecl the 
Bufferings by which He intends to try us. Pray for me, I 
entreat you, that this trial may be the means of my Banctifi- 
cation, for you can have no idea bow painful it is. 

Her correspondent probably resided at Clermont, 
since in the next epistle she goes on to say : 

Your letter made my heart thrill, sir, when I read in it that 
I had friends in the faubourg. The very thought of having 
friends is pleasant to me, for in the place where I now live I 
have none. I meet with much respect and esteem, and have 
a great many visitors at all times, but as for real assistance, 
counsel, or consolation under my pecuniary trials, much as I 
need them, and fully as every one is convinced of the injus- 
tice done me, there is none to be had. People look on with 
indifference, and I confess to you that I feel this indifference 
keenly. It is certainly a great mistake to suppose that I am 
at all attached to my present residence ; on the contrary, I 
seem as it were bound here with iron chains, and the con- 
straint I suffer is at times indescribable. When I say that I 
have no friends here, I do not mean that I have enemies ; far 
from it. I meet with innumerable polite attentions, but the 
very atmosphere of the place (Paris) inclines people to be 
civil to others, yet to take no active interest in any affairs that 
are not their own. If I were moving in worldly society I 
should have help and support enough, but as it is, no one has 
any personal concern in my affairs, and therefore no one cares 
much about them. I believe you know me well enough to 



236 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

be certain that this sort of life by no means pleases me, and I 
own to you that it makes me feel very sad, especially as I try 
to hide most of my feelings from my children, who would be 
quite overwhelmed if they had any idea of what I suffer. 
For which reason I do not wish you to take any notice of 
what I now write in your next letter, lest they should perceive 
that I had been complaining. 

In another letter she enters more into particulars, 
which serve to show that the lot of the widow and 
orphan of the seventeenth century was no more ex- 
empt from other burdens beside bereavement than it 
is at the present day. 

You do not know the trouble we have in taking care of our 
property. We have sold my husband's office for next to no- 
thing, because it was a continual source of annoyance, and 
while deriving no benefit from it, we had to expend money in 
order to retain it. I wish I could have found some one who, 
for the sake of a large share of the property, would have 
looked well after it ; to whom I might have relinquished my 
own unquestionable rights with safety, and thus have freed 
my sons from the trouble and anxiety they now have, as well 
as the waste of time, which in my opinion might be better 
employed. Day after day it is necessary to carry on law- 
suits, and examine into the value of property. But I hope 
that God will provide, and of His great mercy bring us sooner 
and more safely through than now seems likely. 

Etienne Perier, Madame Perier's eldest son, died in 
1680,* and her youngest, Blaise Perier, in 1684. She 
herself died in 1687, being in her sixty-eighth year ; 
* See page 187. 



THE SURVIVORS. 237 

and was buried in the Church of St. Etienne du Mont, 
Paris, by the side of Pascal. Nine years afterwards 
her oddest daughter, Jaquelinc, expired at Clermont. 
She was educated at Port Royal, and would have 
taken the veil there but for the dispersion of the Nov- 
ices in 1661. There had been a question of her mar- 
riage when about the age of fifteen, but Pascal inter- 
fered to break it off, and the young lady herself pre- 
ferred a cloistered life. It was on this occasion that 
Pascal wrote the often-quoted passage, " Marriage is 
the lowest and most dangerous grade of Christianity, 
because, though husbands may be thought rich and 
wise by the world, they are often absolute heathens 
in the sight of God, and to engage a child to a man of 
the ordinary stamp, is a sort of homicide, and as it 
were a deicide in her person." Jaqueline Perier led 
a very secluded life, busied herself with reading and 
prayer, and endured a complication of diseases. " Her 
temper," says her sister Margaret, " was very serious, 
and even rather peculiar." 

The memoirs of this same Margaret, the heroine of 
the Holy Thorn, close as follows : 

My brother, Louis Perier, was the last of our family but 
me. He was born September 27, 1651. In early childhood 
he displayed a merry, frolicksome disposition, and made fun 
of whatever any one tried to teach him, so that at seven years 
old he could hardly say his Paternoster. In 1658 my mother 
took him to Paris, and told my uncle that she could teach 
him nothing. My uncle (Pascal) then took charge of his 



238 JAQTJELINE PASCAL. 

education, and the child soon became very grave, but the fre- 
quent illnesses to which he was subject prevented him from 
getting on with his studies till he was between ten and 
eleven, when his health being re-established, he diligently 
improved the good instruction he received from an excellent 
tutor.* He was successively dean of St. Peter's College, and 
canon of Clermont Cathedral. Having always led a very 
canonical life and been intensely devoted to his studies, he 
was in both capacities a " a sweet savor of Jesus Christ." He 
left his beautiful seat of Bien Assis, a little way out of the 
town, to come and inhabit two small houses near the churches 
where he officiated, and afterwards sold it to one of his rela- 
tions. He died October 13, 1713, and was buried in the 
cathedral. 

Such was the life of all the members of my family. I am 
left alone. They all died in an immovable love for the 
truth. I may say, as did Simon Maccabseus, the last of all 
his brothers : " All my relatives and brethren have died in 
God's service, and in the love of His truth ; I am left alone ; 
and God forbid that I should ever think of renouncing 
either !" 

The following memoranda concerning Margaret 
Perier are found on certain manuscript copies of her 
Memoirs : 

Mademoiselle Perier died yesterday, April 14, 1733, at 10 
o'clock P.M., aged 87 years and 9 days. 

She told me that when her mother died she was forty-one 
years old, and her sister more than forty-three. Nevertheless, 
at that age neither of them dared to stir out of doors without 
their mother, not even to go to mass. Madame Perier's strict- 
ness was such, that if her daughters spoke a word to any 

* M. de Rebergue. 



THE SURVIVORS. 239 

friend whom they might chance to meet when walking with 

her in the streets, the speaker had to turn immediatelj and 
render an are, unit, to her mother, who would ask in a dry tone 
what bad been said. 
Made iselle Perier gave proofs of her persevering love 

for truth even until her latest breath. 

Mademoiselle Perier made, al different times, long Bojourns 
in Paris, where she was the admiration of literary, and the 
consolation of pious people. She had many acquaintances, 
and a great number of friends of botb sexes, which made her 
residence there very agreeable. She lefl Paris altogether in 
1695, after the death of her sister, and went to live with ber 
brother, then dean of St. Peter's, who was alone, in order to 
keep him company and manage bis domestic affairs. At 
first she remained at Bien Assis, which is the mosfc beautiful 
and pleasant country-seat in all the environs of Clermont, 
but she would never allow the smallest party of pleasure to 
assemble there. She had a carriage in which to ride in and 
out of town, but after awhile gave up both house and equip- 
age, and finding that the Great Hospital was in want of a 
superintendent, offered her own services to the I >i rectors. 
They were accepted, and she separated herself from her brother 
in order to reside at the hospital, where, however, her health, 
which was much impaired, did not permit her to make a 
long stay. She went back to live with her brother, who had 
been named canon of the Cathedral ; they bought a house in 
its neighborhood, and both lived there in a very simple man- 
ner. Mademoiselle Perier was always dressed in black, of 
the commonest materials, their furniture was perfectly plain, 
and their only domestics were a valet who took care of their 
country property, and two or three maids, who, like their 
master and mistress, lived a religious life. They did not wear 
black veils, but little white hoods. One of them, whom she 
had brought from Paris, and who survived her, had been in 
her service fifty years. 



240 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

Some years before her death Mademoiselle Perier lost the 
use of her limbs, which compelled her to remain within doors, 
except on festival days and Sundays, when she was carried 
to the Cathedral in a chair, that she might hear mass and per- 
form her devotions there. She usually passed the day upon 
a couch, and occupied herself with prayer and reading, scarcely 
ever seeing any but pious persons, who were always charmed 
with her conversation. Her mind and memory, which was 
excellent, endured to the very last ; and by her will, she made 
the poor people in the General Hospital of Clermont, her 
legatees. It may be said of her that she " died in a good old 
age, being full of days." 

After having traced the history of Jaqueline Pas- 
cal, M. Victor Cousin proceeds to sum up her charac- 
ter and that of her brother, and to offer some general 
remarks on Jansenism. His position, however, as a 
leader of the Eclectic school of philosophy in France, 
the fundamental principles of which, as its name im- 
plies, is an endeavor to blend certain features of va- 
rious and widely differing systems of philosophy into 
one harmonious whole, renders him in some respects 
incapable of sympathizing with the religious convic- 
tions of Pascal and his sister, even while doing justice 
to their natural genius and heroic resolve. M. Cousin, 
though a nominal Catholic, is more allied to rational- 
ism than to Eomanism, " for the ligament that binds 
him to Eome is dry as summer-dust ; it has no life- 
blood, and hardly a nerve." And on the other hand, 
the very points of belief which make Pascal so dear 
to the hearts of evangelical Christians, for which he 



THE SURVIVORS. 2-il 

unflinchingly contended, and his sisteT died, are 
that strike M. Cousin as erroneous and fanatical. The 
austerities with which brother and sister, in common 
with other Jansenists, overlaid the foundations of 
their faith, may well be characterized as superfluous 
and often absurd ; but however disproportioncd might 
be the edifice, beneath it lay the sure corner-stone, 
whereon whosoever buildeth, be he Lutheran or Cal- 
vinist, Protestant or Romanist, Jansenist or even 
monk, shall never be ashamed. 

The lamented Vinet, for so many years one of the 
noblest lights of Swiss Protestantism, was deeply in- 
terested in the writings' of Pascal, and made them the 
subject of several sets of lectures to his theological 
class. A translation of one of these lectures, which 
reviewed the works of M. Cousin and M. Faugere on 
Jaqueline Pascal, has been substituted for the con- 
cluding remarks of the former, as giving a more can- 
did and discriminating view of the characters of Blaise 
and Jaqueline, and of the principles which governed 
Port Royal. It will be found on the next page. 
11 



AN ESSAY BY THE LATE M. VINET, OF LAUSANNE. 

In the modern programme of human life and social 
progress, the virtue of obedience is a mere blank. 
We can hardly account for the preservation of the 
word, unless by supposing it to have acquired a new 
or improper meaning. Men do not always act as they 
themselves choose ; — they are not always able to carry 
into effect their entire will ; — they often act under the 
influence of the will of others. In this respect, there 
is no change, and the quality of obedience is still in 
existence, if to obey mean nothing more than to yield. 
But where is the real principle of obedience ? Who 
is there now-a-days that looks upon obedience as a 
duty ? It may, in a certain sense, be said to have van- 
ished from the present generation. Some have even 
declared that this loss is of no advantage to the cause 
of freedom, since liberty, — true and useful liberty, — 
depends upon obedience, and always exists in propor- 
tion to it ; the principle 'of both, in the depths of man's 
soul, being one and the same, and the two currents 
springing, so to speak, from but one source. 



vinet's essay. 243 

This consideration enables US to <- r uage the moral 
decadence of our times. Obedience is rapidly depart- 
ing, and she leads her sister Freedom by the hand. 
They are not yet out of sight, thank God, but he 
who would overtake them must make haste, for their 
majestic forms are even now half hidden behind the 
horizon. 

It is a truth proved by both experience and common 
sense, that without religion there can be no true obedi- 
ence. For religion is obedience; it contains the only 
jDrinciple of obedience, and all that remains of the hit- 
ter, in either a world or a heart whence religion has 
departed, is but the lingering trace of God's old em- 
pire over conscience, — the ruined fragment of an im- 
pulse once might}-, but now exhausted. 

Amidst the too general forgetfulness of this rule, 
and the failure of this power, it is pleasant to discover 
in the past, and still more so to meet in the present, ex- 
amples of this virtue of obedience, be they illustrious or 
be they obscure. Such instances are more particularly 
attractive when they display the spirit of obedience at 
its fountain head, — and in its first, its highest, its most 
reasonable exercise. The satisfaction wc take in them 
is but slightly impaired by a few aberrations, more or 
less grave, which, however, leave the principle intact. 
It is refreshing to catch a glimpse of human beings 
absorbed by one sole thought, that of self-consecration 
to God; and more jealous in regard to the minutest 
thing appertaining to Him than the most consummate 



244 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

miser is of his wealth, or the most avaricious despot 
of his power. Such a contemplation lifts the soul, at 
least for a moment, to its full height, and gives it a 
vivid, though perhaps a fleeting conviction of its un- 
changable destiny and its most important relations. 

Of this nature is the impression made on us by every 
instance of earnest piety ; — we mean, of piety steeped 
in obedience. This, more especially, is the great ben- 
efit derivable from those accomplished teachers in 
the study of spiritual life, the men and women of 
Port Royal. Perhaps, among them all, not one has 
this characteristic of obedience more strongly marked 
than the lowly-minded nun whose memory has been 
almost simultaneously revived by both M. Cousin and 
M. Faugere. 

In most of the other Port Royalists, the habit of 
command was fused with that of obedience, and al- 
though the very exercise of authority was a proof of 
obedience on their part, yet in their history, pure sub- 
mission, to a casual observer, is less strikingly dis- 
played. But Jaqueline Pascal is submission personi- 
fied; with her, obedience is everything. The vast 
powers of mind, the remnant of freedom yet left her, 
and the energy of her will, being all unreservedly de- 
voted to God, and knowing no will but' His, the degree 
of authority which afterwards devolved upon her did 
but cause this one master-trait of her character and 
life-obedience to become more and more distinct and 
dominant. This volume (for, with the exception of a 



vinet's ESSAY. 245 

few discrepancies to be noticed hereafter, it is but one 
work, published by two editors), was needed in order 
to complete our acquaintance with that great school 
of Christianity to which the author of the Provincial 
Letters belonged, and which had its full development, 
its culminating point in Port Royal. The doctrinal 
works produced by that school, and the grand outlines 
of its history, do not tell us all. Details and accidental 
occurences are of a far better revelation of its daily 
thoughts, its temper, its very life. No one ever 
thought of doubting that this body of Christians was 
thoroughly in earnest, but in order to learn how far 
they carried their earnestness, and how consistent, even 
to an extreme, were the dwellers in those Alpine 
heights of Catholicism, we must listen at their doors. 
And this we have an opportunity of doing in the 
perusal of the Life and Correspondence of Jaqueline 
Pascal. 

And in sooth, it is not Jaqueline alone, but all the 
members of her noble family, who stand before us, 
each in turn. It is possible, that in the history of 
certain races, there may occur an illustrious moment, 
a unique moment, in which the type of that race, after 
long elaboration, attains its distinct degree of energy 
and perfection, sets its distinct and deep imprint on two 
or three medals, and then is broken forever. It was 
so in the case of Blaise and Jaqueline — two precious 
vases, shattered by the mighty workings of truth, 
genius and feeling within them. The covering was 



246 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

too frail to resist the internal pressure, and perhaps 
if stronger, it might have fared no better. Blaise died 
at the age of thirty-nine; Jaqueline three years 
younger. But this brief space sufficed them to set 
the world a noble, — an imperishable example. 

"We experience a feeling of more thorough and re- 
spectful admiration for her than for him. We doubt 
whether we have ever met with a character, male or 
even female, which surpassed Jaqueline's. Had she 
been a woman endowed with one of those peaceful 
and innately submissive natures, to which the convic- 
tiO n Of d^ty brings repose, we should not say this. 
But the history of Pascal's sister displays a struggle 
and a victory of the most arduous kind, yet at the 
same time complete in its results. We ask ourselves 
whether, with a disposition like hers, an obedience so 
exact might not have been produced by her turning 
all the passion that would else have found another 
vent in the direction of obedience. Passion, however, 
is insubordinate, and if induced to obey at all, its 
obedience cannot fail of becoming overstrained. Not 
thus did Pascal's sister obey. That subtle method of 
effecting her own will, spoken of by the prophet, did 
not characterize her. She did not disobey by the 
sheer force of her excessive obedience. No, she 
obeyed peacefully, holily, exactly, and yet with en- 
ergy ; in short, she was obedient, and we cannot express 
the gracefulness (we must be alloAved to use this word) 
with which, on certain occasions, she manifests a power 



vinet's essay. 247 

of language that incontestibly proves her by nature 
born to command, and shows that she could have ex- 
ercised her birthright with incomparable vigor if divine 
grace had not endowed her with the better heritage 
of obedience. 

And yet she is a woman, and nothing allows us to 
forget this : she never forgets it herself. None of her 
sex ever had a more masculine character. Madame 
Eoland could have taught her nothing. Her thoughts 
are as manly as is her character, and yet we are never 
tempted to say that she oversteps the boundaries 
of her sex. No, she does not overstep them ; all her 
strength is penetrated by a womanly tenderness and 
grace. In reading her life and letters, we recollect the 
beautiful words addressed by a modern writer to the 
prince of poets, — 

" And still thou wert a man, 
We feel it by thy tears." 

We feel also by her tears, or perhaps by something 
more affecting than even tears, that the sister of Pascal, 
who might indeed be called his mother, was, in the 
very depths of her nature, a woman. She is more 
womanly than any one of the energetic women held up 
to our just veneration in the history of the Church and 
the world. Her life is the life of a woman of energy ; 
her death — that of a woman. She died of grief, be- 
cause, under the guidance of her brother, of the great 
Arnauld, and of the distinguished members of Port 



248 JAQUELLNE PASCAL. 

Eoyal, she had consented to a transaction esteemed 
proper by theln all, but in which the exquisite delicacy 
of her moral sense detected a slight evasion. How 
much mingled strength and weakness in such a death ! 
Yet it was not the Christian, but the woman who sank, 
overwhelmed by the weight of her own courage. 
That sorrow, that death, that tender and yet mighty 
soul, what a subject would they not afford to the poet 
who could so gently win us to mingle our own tears 
with those of Eacine, and who long ago penetrated 
into the hidden life of Port Eoyal ? 

To understand the extent and value of the sacrifices 
made by Jaqueline when she renounced the world and 
self forever, it is necessary, after reading the Eegula- 
tions for Children, to take up her letter to Mother An- 
gelique de St. Jean upon the signing of the Formu- 
lary. With M. Cousin, we ask all who yet retain any 
sympathy for energy of character, and for the beauty 
of a disinterested love for truth, if they are acquainted 
with many pages of more vigor and excellence ? But 
what we wish more especially to remark, is the au- 
thority, let us dare to say the pride of language which 
Jaqueline never allowed herself to use in relation to 
her own affairs, and of which she would always have 
been thought incapable, if the imperilment of truth 
had not caused her to quit the precincts of her invio- 
lable reserve. Under favor of this unlooked-for open- 
ing nature escapes, her native character for a moment 
re-asserts its rights, and the pride of the Pascal-heart 



vixi:! 249 

full \ reveals itself in the words, " 1 know that it is not 
for women to defend the truth, but in tin- present un- 
happy juncture, may it not be said thai when bishops 
have the cowardice of women, women ought to 
the courage of bishops." Such a nature as hers, long 
buried amid the shades of idleness, illness, or devotion, 
is awakened, like the great Conde,* by a/battle of Senef; 



* Conde'. — Louis do Bourbon, prince of Oonde, born in 1021, known 
in history as the greal Cond6, defeated the Spaniards at the battle of 
Etocroy, when only twenty-one years old Ee persisted in carrying 
oat bis own plans of attach agaioBi the advice of older generals, and 
thereby succeeded in crushing tbe Spanish infantry, till then deemed 
invulnerable. Such was the pride of these old bands, celebrated all 
over Europe, thai a French officer having the next day asked a span 
iard what wore their numbers before the battle, "You have only," 
replied lie, "to count the dead aud the prisoners." Tbe military repu- 
tation of the young conqueror was at once established by this victory. 

Conde was afterwards opposed to the court party in the war of 
the Fronde; was arrested and imprisoned, together with Borne of hit 
relatives, by order of Mazarin. lie only regained his freedom through 
the heroic efforts of his ■wife, Claire Clemence de Maille, a ni 
Cardinal Richelieu, yet he repaid her devotion with negleci and in- 
gratitude. After the final defeat of the Frondeurs, be tooh 
with Spain, and turned his sword against France ; but was at length 
pardoned and restored to the royal favor. 

In 10*74 he fought in the battle of Senef, on the Flemish frontier, 
against the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III. of England, 
remaining, though iu feeble health, seventeen hours in the saddle 
In this bloody contest, 2*7,000 men were left dead on the field. Both sides 
claimed the victory ; and when Conde, on his return to Paris, went to 
Versailles, Louis XIV. advanced to meet him as far as the great stair- 
case. The prince, who had nearly lost the use of his limbs from gout, 
was ascending it very slowly: " Sire," exclaimed he from a distance, " 1 
crave your Majesty's, pardon if I keep you waiting." "My cousin," 
replied the king, "do not hurry yourself; when one is so laden with 
laurels, one can hardly walk fast." — Lord Mahon's Life of Conde, 
pp. 14-25, 282. 

11* 



250 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

but an opportunity -was requisite, and without it we 
should have had neither waking nor discovery, for it 
is not the fate of every gallant spirit to begin its career 
with a Eocroy, that shall at once put its greatness be- 
yond the pale of doubt forever. "What was Jaqueline 
Pascal's Eocroy ? An internal victory witnessed by 
God alone, and owing more than half its grandeur to 
the clouds in which it is enshrouded. To annihilate 
self, and then to efface the most minute traces of that 
very annihilation, had been the task of this heroic 
girl for years. She had deemed it her especial duty 
to mortify her noble intellect, but she was unable to 
destroy it, it still clung to her ; and though everything 
which she achieved or wrote bears the stamp of men- 
tal superiority, there is nothing comparable in this 
respect to the Letter on the Formulary. Closeness, 
sagacity, vigor of argument, energy of language, 
every ingredient of eloquence is there, and stands 
out in fine relief from an admirable background of 
humility. 

From this scene of agitation, on which her appear- 
ance is brief and scarcely discernible, we gladly follow 
Pascal's sister into her daily sphere of thought and 
action. It is a world even more extraordinary than 
the situation in which we have just admired her. 
This world beyond the world, is not merely the con- 
vent, but a group of individuals and of families, a 
distinct part of French society at that epoch. It is 
that portion of the Catholic Church on which the name 



vrxKr's ESSAY. 251 

of a man or of a Look was afterwards Imposed, but 
which in reality did not originate with either man or 
book ; it is, so to speak, a spiritual and aseetic school, 
disowned by Catholicism, yet obstinately refusing to 
retaliate that disavowal. The life of Jaqueline Pa - 
cal, the memoirs of her sister and niece, enable us to 
enter that school, and make us quite as familiar with 
it, as do the devout writings of the Nicoles, the St. 
Cyrans, the Quesnels, and the Dugnets. We learn not 
only what was thought, but what was practised within 
that little Church, born of the Spirit. Can it be true 
that it is not possible for men to examine themselves, 
and to watch over their daily lives without exaggera- 
tion,? and is this tendency to extremes the weakness 
of the strpng ? Many facts, individual and collective, 
seem to rise up and testify that thus it is. And 
among their number is the asceticism of that religious 
school to which the sisters of Pascal and Pascal him- 
self belonged. No other band of Christians has more 
loudly professed or more sincerely practised the vol- 
untary and deliberate yielding of the creature's will 
to that of the Creator. No other has felt a deeper re- 
pentance and horror of sin. It seems, in these pious 
and vigorous minds, as if there was a struggle between 
love of God and hatred of self, and though we cannot 
without injustice say that the latter prevailed over the. 
former, yet we may reasonably conclude that the lat- 
ter, self-abhorrence, is the peculiar tone of Jansenist 
pietj^. It would appear that, according to their idea, 



252 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

God was not sufficiently avenged, and that the Chris- 
tian, though hopeless of completing that vengeance, 
(mark this point,) was yet bound to carry it on and to 
attempt its consummation. If life was in itself a 
punishment, they must try to aggravate it, and if not, 
they must make it become such. The apostolic 
maxim, " Use the world as not abusing it," will not 
satisfy the members of this school, for their device is, 
" Use it not at all." Too spiritually -minded not to be 
aware that it is useless to renounce the world unless 
self be first crucified, they do not admit of the one 
renunciation without the other, and the life of the be- 
liever must become, in every sense, a long adieu to 
life. St. Paul, while duly honoring Christian celi- 
bacy, had pronounced marriage honorable in all, but 
Pascal declares it " the most perilous and the lowest 
of Christian stations," and on this ground alone, dis- 
suades one of his nieces from marrying. His brother- 
in-law, M. Perier, always wore a girdle lined with iron 
points, but his humility always kept this fact a secret. 
He used also to have a plank in his bed, which he 
always made himself, in order to prevent its discovery. 
Mental enjoyment was looked upon by some of these 
Christians as a different kind of sensuality or luxury, 
and they rigorously declined it, as a superfluity, only 
permissible to persons who had no taste for it. To 
sum all up in a word, they have no tie to earth nor 
to its inhabitants, save charity. This one cable fastens 
them to its shorn, but all the rest are cut. In their 



vinet's essay. 253 

eyes, every one belongs to the world who lives in it, 
no matter how genuine, humble, or practical his 
piety; and to quit the world entirely is the true, the 
only conversion. A single aim, a single thought, a 
single work, such is the rule, and such the spirit of 
Port Royalist piety. And if you would gain a clear, 
yet freezing intuition of that mode of life, yon 
only to read, in " Jaqueline Pascal," the sketch of the 
little girls' education who were committed t>> beT 
The recital of one day's occupations will excite your 
reverence, and at the same time make you shudder. 

M. Cousin has made some very just remarks on this 
head, which we have no desire to gainsay. Rather 
would we say, in addition, that what is imperfect as a 
model, may be perfect as a type. We think it a mat- 
ter of congratulation that such, examples have come 
down to us in spite of all their short-comings and ex- 
cesses. And as far as we ourselves are concerned, 
evil is less apparent than good, and falsehood than 
truth throughout the whole. "Whatever may be said 
to the contrary, truth and excellence are in the as- 
cendant. If mankind must of necessity be self-deceiv- 
ers, this mode of self-deception is the best, and if it 
be the occasion of scandal, the blame rests not so much, 
with them as with, their accusers. For the life of the' 
recluses of Port Royal vividly represents, in spite of 
some confusion in the metaphor, the true relations of 
man, the true emotions caused by repentance, and the 
true dignity and beauty of human existence. I should 



254 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

not speak thus did I perceive in the asceticism of Port 
Koyal those two errors of which I agree that asceti- 
cism is, by turns, both the cause and the effect. I 
mean a mercenary spirit, and that fatal prejudice 
which places the principal of sin in matter, or in the 
flesh. Nothing of the kind is here to be found. 
Jansenism may have neared the brink of that abyss, 
but it never began the descent. Its piety was alto- 
gether spiritual, actual, and sincere. It had no tol- 
eration for sublime phantasies, the virtues it practised 
were useful and salutary, it aimed at justice and char- 
ity in its relations with mankind, and its morality is 
no exact ingenious mechanism, but a living, pliant 
reality. In a word, these extraordinary beings were 
only, in their daily life, devoted friends to Grod and to 
their neighbor. 

Having mentioned M. Perier's austerities, I should 
like to show his character in a different light. The 
following trait will, I doubt not, make up for the gir- 
dle and the wooden couch. I leave his daughter, 
Marguerite Perier, to narrate it : 

Two days before his death he performed an action worthy 
of record. There lived at Clermont a treasurer of the French 
Government, whose family was considerably indebted to M. 
Perier, and my father, knowing this debt to be nearly out- 
lawed, wished to take some steps to secure his own rights. 
He therefore called upon the treasurer and requested him not 
to take it amiss if he did so. The man behaved in a very 
improper manner, and made the most bitter and abusive 
complaints of my father in company. My father was told of 



vinkt's ESSAY. 255 

this, but only said, " One must make allowances for a man 
whose affairs arc deranged." About a week after, there came 
news from Paris that every treasurer would be obliged to pay 
;i tax often thousand francs, or otherwise must lose bis office. 
My father told my mother of this, and said, "That man will 
be ruined. I should like to offer him some money." My 
mother said, "Do just as you please, only recollect what ;i 
sum is already due you from thai family." He mad.' do an- 
swer, but went on the morrow to the treasurer, and asked 
him if lie hud heard the uews, and what were his intentions. 
"I shall be obliged to resign my office," replied the treasurer, 
"for it is very plain that I cannot raise ten thousand francs." 
My father said, " No, sir, you will col resign it. I have ten 
thousand francs. I will I'-nd them to you." The man was 
so astonished that he sobbed out, " You must certainly be a 
true Christian, sir, for I have said very harsh things of you, 
and I know that you have heard of them." My father did not 
mention this. It took place on Monday, February 21, and 
on "Wednesday, the 23d, he died suddenly at seven in the 
morning. The treasurer, hearing of his .hath, ran to the 
house, shrieking, weeping, and exclaiming, " I have lost a fa- 
ther," and then he related the conversation of the Monday 
previous. 

No one can fail to remark the almost biblical sim- 
plicity of this narrative. What I wish to point out 
in it is the extreme moderation and reserve of its style. 
This is the characteristic of that piety. Towards God 
alone it flows out freely. On every other subject it is 
incommunicative, and this habit once formed, there is 
no longer anything to impart — the barrier is never 
threatened, either by the dearest interests or the most 
profound emotions. This devout and holy sobriety 



256 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

in the expression of natural feeling is not merely a 
discipline worthy of being reverenced for its motive, 
it is a judicious and salutary economy.- The express- 
ion of feeling always weakens that feeling. Never, 
without an evident and an impracticable miracle, can 
the words of the poet respecting a magic cup be 
spoken of the soul : 

" And still the more the vase poured forth, 
The more it seemed to hold." 

Every vase is emptied by the act of pouring, and 
up to a certain point, that which is true of a vase, is no 
less true of a heart. The soul has its excesses, and is 
weakened by them, just as excesses of another kind 
weaken the body. Eeserved men, when that reserve 
is not the mask of sterility, preserve their strength of 
soul just as temperate men preserve their bodily 
vigor. Nay, this very reserve is usually a pledge and 
a foundation of mental strength. And what we have 
said of idividuals is equally true of epochs and of lit- 
eratures ; for in these also, when the sap runs out, 
the tree is weakened. Were all this denied, it would 
still be undeniable that nothing moves us so deeply 
as a single word from the heart of one whose words 
are, from a sense of duty, few. We are affected both 
by what he says, and what he leaves unsaid. When 
Margaret Perier concludes the memoirs of her family 
with these simple words : " Such was the manner of 
life of all my relatives. I am left alone. They all 



vinet's essay. 257 

died in an unchangeable love to the truth : God forbid 
that I should ever think of ; it I" the heart is 

stirred to its profoundest depths, and we feel grateful 
that she inclined the vase so slightly. 

In giving an account, last year, of Pascal's system 
of theology, which seems to us more mild than any 
other system, we excepted the inhumanity of a part 
of his morality, essentially the -same as that of Jaque- 
linc and of Port Eoyal. And having made this ex- 
ception, we may be allowed to say that the natural 
affections were deeply rooted in those noble hearts 
that made the love of God a foundation for every 
other love. Ah yes ! it is true there is something 
heart-rending in the particular regulation whereby 
Jaqueline forbids poor little girls, brought up together, 
to interchange the slightest caress or even touch ; 
and we will allow those who confess that such severity 
is in principle sublime, to condemn it as excessive. 
But where must be the eyes of those who can read 
the Eegulations, and not discover them to be full of 
the most considerate tenderness, and that they dictate 
attentions of the most delicate charity ? Who could 
read, I do not say without respect, but without tears, 
Jaqueline's narrative of the difficulties attending her 
entrance on a religious life, especially from her brother 
and her family. The letter on the formulary is not 
more admirable of its kind than this, and the one shows 
up the value of the other. Not wishing, nor indeed 
able to dwell upon it as a whole, let us quote a single 



258 JAQUELIXE PASCAL. 

sentence. Speaking of the " disingenuous reasons," 
raisons de chicane, by which the relatives of Jaqueline 
opposed her intention of offering to the community 
of Port Eoyal the just and customary remuneration 
for the expenses of her maintenance, " I know," she 
says, " that these arguments were true in the main, 
but they were such as we had never been accustomed 
to use with one another." Never was complaint more 
reserved, more tender, nor, for that very reason, more 
sorrowful. But this long letter ought to be read, for 
its very length, occasioned by holy veneration and 
gratitude, completes the picture of Port Eoyal, and 
it is, moreover, in some places, full of a solemn grace. 
The form of Christianity which we are now studying 
is there in its richest bloom, and with the full fra- 
grance of its refreshing perfume. 

"We attempt, with a painful sense of our own incom- 
petency, to supply that which, without contesting their 
correctness, seems to us wanting in the moral reflec- 
tions of M. Cousin. When he seeks to discover for 
the nineteenth century a middle path between the 
sublime but extravagant devotion of the seventeenth 
and the liberal but impious philosophy of the eigh- 
teenth, he perhaps does not wish to keep us equi-dis- 
tant from the two ; but it seems as if he did. The 
devotion of the seventeenth century is not sublime 
merely. It is true to its heart's core ; and if it were 
not true, it would not be sublime. Allowing that it 
gives too much scope to error, even upon points that 



vixet's essay. 259 

M. Cousin could not indicate, its truth, we repeat, is 
far greater than its falsehood. Among the multitude 
of religious revivals whose memory is recorded in ec- 
clesiastical history, this is assuredly one of the loveli- 
est. In saying this, we yield to the wish of giving 
expression to a truth which we deeply feel, and to 
which M. Cousin has not accorded the aid or the hom- 
age of his eloquence. But it was not necessary ; M. 
Faugere had preceded us. We find at the close of 
his preface this passage, excellent both in thought 
and style : — 

"This zeal, it is true, was not always so enlightened as it 
was fervent and sincere. They (the Jansenists) not unseklom 
pursued the principles and practices of religion heyond the 
bounds of reason, forgetting that man's proper destiny upon 
earth is to unite the life of action to the life of contemplation, 
that the duty of a sincere Christian does not consist in sacri- 
ficing the one to the other, but in regulating the one by the 
other, and uniting both in that just proportion, the quest of 
which is the quest of perfection. But all passions, even those 
of the purest kind, are liable to excess, and it is better to re- 
spect an exaggerated virtue than to set about the easy task 
of discovering its absurdities, for the mere sake of enjoying 
an idle pleasure in triumphing over them. Men's hearts are 
not apt to incline so far heavenward as to place morality in 
any danger on that score. And besides, is it not in the order 
of Providence that certain towering intellects should in all 
ages devote themselves to the worship of truth, of beauty, of 
holiness, of an ideal perfection ? Yes, and it is good that 
they should do this in order to remind humanity of the origin 
of all its dignity and moral grandeur, and, as the sceptic phi- 



260 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 



ler Bayle expressed it, ' to prevent the spirit of the world 
from ostracising that of the gospel.' " 

The two works which we are now reviewing are 
similar, and yet different. They relate to the same 
subject, and are for the most part composed of the 
same materials. Madame Perier's sketch of her sister 
Jaqueline, the latter's poetry, her rules for the man- 
agement of the young girls educated at Port Eoyal, 
her Eeflections on the Mystery of Jesus Christ's death, 
her examination and her letters, are given in full in 
both volumes. Now let us look at their differences. 
M. Cousin does not make his appearance as an editor 
alone. His work, though much of it consists of Ja- 
queline Pascal's writings, is none the less a book writ- 
ten upon that admirable woman : — a book in which 
the citations are like facts or articles of proof, framed 
in some of the finest and most glowing pages which 
we have ever obtained from M. Cousin's eloquent pen. 
The publication of M. Faugere is a complete collection 
of the writings of three female members of Pascal's 
family, viz., his two sisters Gilberte and Jaqueline, and 
his niece Margaret Perier. This noble volume is a 
natural and indispensable companion to M. Faugvre's 
edition of Pascal's Thoughts. His own part in it con- 
sists of a preface, well worth reading, a large number 
of notes, and, in particular, the exact restoration of 
the text. This restoration, the importance of which 
is more than merely bibliographic, is by no means the 
sole advantage distinguishing this edition. It is more 



vinet's essay. 261 

rich and ample than M. Cousin's, who, in fact, only set 
out to write a book on Jaquelinc Pascal, and has, as 
usual, written it well. M. Faugore's volume contains 
many long pieces, wc might call them en1 i n • 
from which M. Cousin simply extracts a few pages, the 
plan of his work not including their complete repub- 
lication.* In saying that Madame Pcricr's Life of 
Pascal (52 pages), and the Memoirs of Margaret Perier 
concerning her family (about 50 pages), arc the } prin- 
cipal, though not the only pieces which M. V. 
has introduced into his enlarged frame and M. Cousin 
has left out, we note one of the peculiar merits of the 
former's work. But, in strict justice, we ought to add 
that the illustrious academician's book has in it cer- 
tain other pieces, hitherto inedited, though of no very 
great value or length. Madame Perier's Life of Pascal 
has more than once been prefixed to his " Thoughts," 
yet many of his admirers are still unacquainted with 
that fine fragment, and its reprint by M. Faugere is a 
true boon to the public. Nor do we think that the 
Memoirs of Margaret Perier will be greeted with less 
pleasure. For apart from her belonging to the Pascal 
race (which is a self-evident, undisputable fact), her 
sketches are intrinsically curious and useful. They 
let in new light upon a state of society and manners, 



* In the present volume an attempt has been made to blend what 
was most interesting in the works, both of M. Cousin and M. Faugere, 
with the information requisite to make them intelligible to persons 
not familiar with that period of French history to which they refer. 



262 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

of which it is impossible to form a correct idea from 
the general outlines of history. "We always find, in 
evil as well as in good, some facts which never could 
be taken for granted. Who, for instance, conld be 
prepared to see the pious and learned Etienne Pascal, 
the father of Blaise, giving ear to a witch, and follow- 
ing, in some respects, her advice * Parental love 
caused him to listen to counsels, which, in truth, he 

* Margaret Perier thus relates the episode of Pascal's infancy to 
•which M. Vinet here refers : " When my uncle was a year old, something 
very marvellous happened to him. My grandmother, though quite 
young, was very pious and charitable, and there was a great number 
of poor families whom she was accustomed to relieve. Among them 
was a woman generally believed to be a witch, but my grandmother, 
who was very intelligent and by no means superstitious, laughed at 
the warnings she received, and continued to give the woman alms- 
Her little boy about that time fell into a state of languor resembling 
consumption, but attended, however, with two very unusual symptoms. 
He could not endure the sight of water without falling into violent 
convulsions, and what was even more astonishing, neither could he 
bear to see his father and mother draw near each other. He would 
seem pleased wheu one or the other caressed him separately, but they 
no sooner approached him together than he began to cry and struggle 
with frantic vehemence. This malady increased for more than a year, 
and at length became so severe that his life was despaired of. 

Every one told my grandfather and his wife that this witch had 
certainly cast a spell over the child, but the idea only amused them, 
for they supposed it to be pure imagination on the part of their friends, 
who could find no other way of accounting for the child's illness, and 
paid no attention to it, allowing the woman free admission to their 
house, and relieving her wants. My grandfather, however, grew tired 
of hearing so much said on the subject, and one day sent for the wo- 
man into his room, intending to talk to her in a manner that would 
make her put a stop to the reports. She answered him at first very 
mildly, saying that they were all false, and only arose from envy at 
the kindness shown her. He then pretended to be very angry and to be- 
lieve that she really had bewitched his child, and he threatened to have 



V1NETS ESSAY. 263 

never sought. But the same depth of affection would 
not be likely now-a-days to lead many persons into a 
similar temptation, especially if they were Christians. 
While gathering up this trait of manners, we blush, 

her hanged if she did not confess the truth. (Tpon this she became 
alurmcil, and falling on her knees, promised to acknowledge all, if he 
-would only agree to save her life. My grandfather, very much aston- 
ished, demanded what she had been doing, and what were 
tives. She answered that she had ouce asked him to conduct a law- 
suit for her, and he had refused, <>n the ground that hi- did i<"' consider 
her claim a just one, that therefore Bhe bad thrown a Bpell OTer hie child 
by way of revenge, knowing how tenderly he laved it., and thai she 
was sorry to tell him the sickness was unto death. My grandfather 
exclaimed in sorrow, " What '. must my child die I™ Bhe told him 
there was a remedy, but it was necessary thai another should take 
his place, and become a victim to the enchantment. My grandfather 
said, "Oh, I had rather my son died than to have anyone killed in his 
stead." She said that the enchantment could be laid upon an animal. 
My grandfather then offered to give her a horse, but she said that a cat 
would answer the purpose and be less costly ; so he gave her one, and 
she carried it off; but as she went down stairs two capuchin friars 
met her, who had called to condole with my grandfather upon his 
6on's illness. They told the woman that she was going to perform 
some new witchcraft with the eat ; upon which she threw it out of a 
window, not more than six feet from the ground, and the cat fell dead. 
She then asked for another, which my grandfather gave her, never once 
thinking that it was of any consequence how many eats she had, or what 
she did with them, provided anything could be done for his darling 
child. The idea that she was going to iuvoke the devil again, in order 
to alter the spell, did not occur to him till long afterwards, and then 
he was very sorry to have countenanced the proceeding. 

In the eveniug the woman came back and told him that she wanted 
a child under seven, who should gather, before sunrise, nine leaves of 
three kinds of herbs, three of a kind. He told his apothecary, who 
promised that he would himself accompany his own little daughter on 
the morrow, which he did. The herbs being procured, the woman made 
a cataplasm of them, which she brought to my grandfather at seven 
in the morning, and bade him lay it on the child's stomach. This was 
done, but when he came back from court at noon, he found the ser- 



264 JAQUELINE PASCAL. 

less, however, for Etienne Pascal than for human na- 
ture. 

We, too, have our superstitions and manias. We, 
of the nineteenth century, also believe in occult 
powers. Shall I add, that we have no fears of incur- 
ring a debt to the Prince of Darkness ? Gross errors 

vants crying, and they told him that the child was dead. He -went 
upstairs, and beheld his wife in tears, while the baby lay in the cradle 
seemingly dead. He turned away, and meeting the woman who 
brought him the plaster on the staircase, which application he was 
convinced had killed, the child, he gave her a box on the ear that 
pitched her down the whole flight of stairs. The woman picked her- 
self up, and told him she knew he was enraged because he thought his 
child was dead, but that she had forgotten in the morning to say that 
it would appear as if it were a corpse until midnight, but that if it 
were left quietly in its cradle until that time, it would recover. My 
grandfather went back, and declared that the child should not be bur- 
ied for the present, although it seemed quite dead, having neither 
pulse, voice, nor feeling, being cold, and looking precisely like a corpse. 
People were amused at my grandfather's credulity, especially as he 
had never before been known to give any heed to such things, but 
he and my grandmother did not leave the room where the baby lay, 
being afraid to trust any one but themselves. They heard the clock 
strike every hour till midnight, without perceiving any change in the 
child, but towards one o'clock it began to yawn. This astonished 
them greatly, they took it up, warmed it, gave it wine and sugar, 
which was swallowed, and then its nurse fed it, but the child gave no 
sign of consciousness, and did not open its eyes until sis o'clock in 
the morning. Then, seeing its father and mother standing together, 
it began to cry as usual, whieh showed that the cure was not com- 
plete ; but they nevertheless felt comforted to think the child was 
alive, and in about six or sevcu days after he began .to bear the sight 
of water. My grandfather, on coming home one day from mass, 
found his son amusing himself on his mother's lap, by pouring water 
out of one glass into another, and came towards them, but the child 
could not bear his approach for several days longer. At length, how- 
ever, this symptom disappeared, and in three weeks the child was 
perfectly cured, and as fat as ever." 



vinet's essay. 265 

are growing refined. Prejudices yield to systems, 
which, after all, arc but prejudices under a new name. 
"We do exploits against error, though we no longer in- 
dividualize it. Many reflections might be made upon 
this state of things. But we prefer to say that the 
bright light which has already swallowed up so many 
shadows is not yet extinct, — it has not paled. And 
from the eternal East a new morning dawns while 
the Everlasting Sun of humanity is rising for us 

anew I 

12 



APPENDIX. 



Reference lias repeatedly been made in the preceding 
pages to Jacqueline Pascal's regulations for children. In con- 
sequence of their allusions to the practices of the Romish 
Church, which are so deservedly objectionable to Protestants, 
it was at one time intended to give only a brief abstract of 
their contents, but on reflection, it seemed scarcely fair to re- 

ve all the traces of a superstition, which was blended with 

much unselfishness and heartfelt piety. "While presenting, 
.erefore, this picture of education at Port Royal, the trans- 
itor hopes that no injury may accrue to the reader of this 
curious relic of a bygone age. It is not likely that so severe 
a discipline will win for itself any imitators in the present 
day. Even Pascal himself mentions in his " Thoughts," that 
the children of Port Royal, deprived of the spur of emulation, 
could with difficulty be made to take sufficient interest in 
their studies to ensure a moderate improvement. And it was 
deemed necessary, when the regulations were first published, 
to add a preface qualifying their extreme severity. 

" These regulations," remarks M. Cousin, " contains many 
beautiful passages. He gives them entire, with the advertise- 
ment of the editors, which points out the errors of a discipline 
so austere." 

ADVERTISEMENT. 

Although these regulations for children are not imaginary, 
but, on the contrary, are an embodiment of the system pur- 
sued for many years at Port Royal des Champs, it must, 



APPENDIX. 267 

nevertheless, be owned, that in other places it may not al- 
ways be easy, or indeed advisable, to carry them oul in every 
particular. For it is quite possible, on the one hand, all 
children may not be capable of enduring bo long a silence, 
and so monotonous a life, without becoming a prey to discour- 
agement and ennui, which ought carefully to be avoided. 
Or, on the other hand, all governesses may not be able t<> 
maintain a discipline so strict, and at the same time to win 
the love and confidence of their charge, which is all-important, 
in order for the result of education to be successful. It is (lie 
part of prudence, therefore, to moderate all these tilings and, 
in the words of one of the popes, to unite the Btrengtb which 
rules children without alienating them, and the kindness that 
gains their affection, yet does not spoil them. 

REGULATIONS FOR CHILDREN. 

April 17, 165Y. 
My vert dear and honored father,* 

I humbly entreat your forgiveness for having so long 
deferred rendering you an account of my conduct towards the 
children. My reason for not doing this when you first men- 
tioned it to me, was this. I thought you wished me to write 
down the manner in which they ought to be trained up, and 
I did not deem it possible for one possessing so little light as 
I do, to undertake a task of such difficulty without great pre 
sumption. For I can assure you that obedience is my only 
inducement to begin at all, and if I do not make a complete 
failure, it may be attributed to the force of our mother's words, 
who told me, when she laid the charge of these children upon 
me, that I need feel no anxiety, for God would himself do 
everything. This so completely quieted the trouble occa- 
sioned by my own impotence, that I became full of confidence, 
and as calm as if God had actually made me the promise. 

* Jacqueline is here addressing her spiritual father, her confessor, 
most probably the Abbe Singlin. 



268 APPENDIX. 

And I own, that when I look at myself and begin to feel dis- 
couraged, as you know to my shame I often do, then these 
brief words, God will do everything, pronounced in faith, are 
able to restore peace to my soul. You, however, have lately 
removed my previous anxiety by telling me that you did not 
require me to give you a sketch of education as it ought to 
be conducted, but simply to state my own method of guiding 
children, in order to observe my frequent faults, which not 
only undo the work of God, as effected by my instrumentality, 
but greatly hinder the progress of His grace in their souls. 

In order to maintain some degree of order in the account 
thus rendered, I shall begin by telling you, in the first place, 
how I have parcelled out the hours of the day, and the sec- 
ond, Avhat I do for their guidance both spiritual and bodily. 

DIVISION OF THE DAY. 

OF THE ' CHILDREN'S RISING. 

1. The eldest rise at four ; the next in age, at half past four ; 
those partly grown, at five, and the youngest according to 
their size and strength. For you know that we have pupils 
of all ages, from four years to seventeen and eighteen. 

2. The person awaking them says Jesus, and they answer, 
Maria, or Deo Gratias. 

3. They must rise promptly, not allowing themselves time 
to get thoroughly awake, for fear of yielding to idleness. If 
they feel ill, they must mention it to the person awaking them, 
so that they may be allowed to rest. If any of the elder ones 
usually requires more rest than the others, it is allowed her, so 
that when the hour prescribed for her arrives, she may get up 
at once, because it is dangerous to get accustomed to be idle 
in the early morning. 

4. As they wake, they repeat a short prayer, suitable to 
that hour. 

5. Immediately after rising, they worship God and kiss 



APPENDIX. 2G9 

the ground. Then they pass into the dre ing-room, and 
again worship God, kneeling on both knees before the ora- 
tory, and speaking aloud, lesl anyone should forget the duty. 
G. The elder ones then comb each other's hair. This must 
be clone in perfect silence, beca us< • it is but right thi 
first words should be those of prayer and thanksgiving to 
God. If any of them find it necessary to speak, thej 
address their governess, in order il^t she may ber elf | 
what they need, from whoever takes charge of it. Thi 
vents them from saying a word to one another during the 
deep morning silence, and also saves them from temptation, 
since they might otherwise whisper low on some um ecessiry 
topic, and then, if asked what they were saying, might an- 
swer by a falsehood. This rigid silence continues until the 
Pretiosa of Prime, and is also observed afteT the i i 
Angelus, even in summer, -when they -walk in the garden. 



OF THE PERIOD OF DRESSIXG. 

1. They are exhorted to comb and dress themselves as 
quickly as they can, in order to acquire the habit of spending 
the least possible time in adorning a body which must one 
day become pasturage for worms, and also to compensate for 
time wasted by women of the world in dressing, and in ar- 
ranging their hair. 

2. As soon as the great girls are dressed, they are to comb 
and dress the little ones with the same silence and dispatch. 
We endeavor to have the whole business over by a quarter 
past six at the very latest, which is about the time when the 
bell rings for early mass. 

S. Each elder girl is careful to have the little ones repeat 
prayers, while she is dressing them. 

OF MORNING PRAYERS. 

1. At the last stroke of Prime, or Pretiosa at the very 



270 APPENDIX. 

latest, they kneel down and begin prayers, when their gov- 
erness gives the word. She, or the sister who aids her, is al- 
ways present. They first repeat their own special prayers, 
and then the Morning service. Every week a child is ap- 
pointed to begin the prayers which are repeated up stairs. I 
shall therefore call her hereafter la Semamiere (Monitress.) 

2. Prime and Compline prayers are to be said in a moder- 
ate tone, neither too high nor too low, and accompanied 
with slight intervals of meditation. Meanwhile all the chil- 
dren remain standing. 

3. They are told that they maintain this attitude in order 
to testify that they are ready to perform God's holy will. 

4. All the common prayers repeated up stairs are said 
slowly, distinctly, and with right emphasis. 

5. At the close of Prirne, a short space, about two Miserere, 
is allotted them to reflect before God on the duties of the 
whole day, and on the chief faults committed the day before, 
in order that they may implore Him for grace to foresee and 
avoid temptations to do the like. 

OF THE CHILDREN'S BEDS, AND BREAKFAST. 

When prayers are over, they all go together to make their 
own beds, and those of the little ones, doing this in couples 
as directed. No one may leave a room until all the beds in 
it are made, unless the sister who accompanies them should 
allow others to be commenced in an adjoining room, and 
place herself where she can keep watch over both apartments. 
Even then she must be careful what children are sent, and 
only select those whom she knows to be prudent and trust- 
worthy. 

2. While the beds are being made, one girl prepares break- 
fast, and the requisite things for washing the hands, with wine 
and water to wash the mouth. 

3. The beds being made, they wash their hands, and then 
breakfast. Meanwhile, one of them reads the Marty rology 



APPENDIX. 271 

of the day, so that they may know what saints the Church 
mi that da\ remembers, and may honor them and implore 
their protection. 



1. After breakfast, which is over by half past seven at the 
very latest, all withdraw into the work-room, where they must 
diligently improve their time, and keep a strict silence. If 
it is necessary to speak, they must do it softly, so as not to 
interrupt those who are old enough to hold communion with 
God. 

2. Even the little ones are taught not to speak, though they 
are allowed to play when their work has been wdl and silently 
done, but in their brief intervals of play, each must play by 
herself, so that there may be no noise. I have found that this 
solitude does not trouble the children, for when they are use 1 
to it, they seem to amuse themselves very merrily. 

3. The children are taught that their work is not to be un- 
profitable, but that they may consecrate it to God by doing 't 
from love to Him. Subjects of meditation are presented to 
them, according to the season or festival, and when their gov- 
erness is present, she from time to time repeats passages of 
Scripture calculated to strengthen the mind, and keep it from 
vain and wandering thoughts. We are careful, however, to 
avoid extremes, and do not seek to render them too spiritually- 
minded, unless God himself have made them so, because their 
youth might occasion two evils, if we did, either they might 
set too close a watch upon themselves, and so weary the mind 
and fancy, instead of communing with God, or, on the other- 
hand, might feel too much discouraged at finding it impossible 
to attain the perfection demanded of them. 

4. "We try to accustom the children to deny themselves, and 
not to indulge their preferences for any particular kind of 
work. For this reason we tell them that the less their occu- 
pation pleases them, the more it will please God, and therefore 



272 APPENDIX 

they ought to perform disagreeable tasks with more industry 
and good humor, and learn to work with a spirit of penitence. 
But, nevertheless, we do really humor their tasks as far as we 
can, without allowing them to perceive the condescension. 

5. They are not suffered to work in pairs, unless in case of 
necessity, and then a very good girl is placed with one more 
imperfect, in order that the strong may support the weak. 

6. They are exhorted not to be too fond of their work ; and 
to leave off as soon as the bell rings, either to go to divine 
service, or to repeat it in private, because they ought always 
to be ready for their religious duties, and to care only for 
those. 

7. When the governess is present, she may take the oppor- 
tunity of inquiring how they understood Mass, and of explain- 
ing its meaning more particularly, teaching them how to 
profit by it. 

8. When any one does wrong, she must be reproved in pres- 
ence of the rest, and occasion may thence be taken to expati- 
ate on the ugliness of vice and the beauty of virtue. I have 
found nothing so useful and well remembered by children as 
instructions thus given. 

9. We avoid talking too much to them, for fear of overload- 
ing the mind. I find that instruction does much more good 
when they are not wearied with it. For this reason, I think 
H well sometimes to let several days pass without giving them 
any instructions, and to make them as it were hunger foi 
spiritual nourishment. They thus receive better what may 
afterwards be said to them. 

10. We are careful not to have them untidy, careless, or 
negligent, and to see that they put things away, and do not 
lose them, but are neat and diligent in everything they do. 

11. We accustom them also to love work, and to carry its 
materials always with them, so as not to hinder time if any 
unexpected detention occurs. They also work during their 
recreation, those, at least, who are grown up, though they arc 



APPENDIX. 273 

not obliged to do this. We merely advise them to form a 
habit of never being idle, and this once done, there is no more 
dillieiilty ; on the contrary, it answers instead of amusements, 
as 1 see, by God's grace, is the case with our oirls, who find 
nothing so tiresome as holidays. I find it a good way of 
forming this habit of industry, to allow them to do some, work 
which they like, and cannot do at any other time. I taught 
them, for instance, to make worsted gloves, and as they can 
only do this during their recess, they are very eager after it. 

12. At every hour during the day, one of them repeats 
aloud a prayer suitable to the season and time, during Lent, 
on the Passion, etc. All continue sitting, except her who re- 
ntes the prayer, and she kneels down as soon as the vln-k 
strikes. 

13. We are careful to have them ask ami receive the ma- 
terials for their work politely, to make them hold thdmselres 
uprightly and gracefully, and curtsey when they enter or leave 
the room. Therefore, though they wear a veil, they only 
make a nun's obeisance when they approach the Holy Sacra- 
ment. 

14. In the interval between breakfast and eight o'clock, the 
elder one.?, who have rooms to sweep and cells to arrange, do 
it expeditiously and silently. We never allow two to be to- 
gether except we are convinced of their discretion. 

15. At eight o'clock, all who have been busied in this way 
upstairs, must leave every thing and return to the work-room, 
in order to hear the governess read until Tierce, which is re- 
peated at half-past eight. This reading is selected from the 
subject of the Church services at the time ; during Advent, it 
relates to the mystery of the Incarnation, froni Christmas to 
Candlemas, to the birth of our Saviour and the Adoration of 
the Magi : in Lent, to the Passion, and so on through the 
year. And at the same time, when any remarkable saint's 
day comes, a selection is made from the saint's life. This 
reading is intended to afford a subject of thought and conver 

12* 



274 APPENDIX. 

sation through the day. Some remarks are always added by 
way of application or of instruction, so that they may better 
comprehend it. 

OF DIVINE SERVICE. 

1. When the Tierce-bell rings, they kneel clown to ask a 
blessing of our Lord, saying, Benedicat nos, Dens Deus nos- 
ter, bcncdictus nostcr Deus, et mctuant mm omnes fines terra, 
which they do whenever they go out to attend church : in 
order that God may graciously keep them from wandering 
thoughts, and enable them to behave properly in presence of 
the sisterhood. 

2. We usually allow all who are fourteen years old, and 
healthy, to attend the whole of the divine service on festival 
days, and even Matins, if they are anxious to go, and have 
deserved the permission. They go to the services of Tierce 
and Vespers on double and half-double clays, and on the oc- 
tave of every principal feast-day. On special festivals and 
Sundays they are also allowed to attend Prime, and on those 
days, too, the whole of them, great and small, usually go to 
Tierce and Vespers. They also do this on Thursdays and on 
the festivals of some of the holy doctors, and others whom 
the children reverence, though festivals are not held in their 
honor. 

3. However, this rule of going to divine service on the 
above-named days, is not observed as indispensable. Each 
must ask to attend according to the degree of her devotion, 
and permission is granted as a great favor. V\'e exhort them 
not to go unless they feel devout, for it is better to have 
them wish to go to church more frequently than they are 
allowed, because then we have the right not to suffer any 
inattention. 

4. We are careful to have them behave with great modesty, 
not permitting any looking about, making them sing when- 
ever they can, obliging them to attend to their books, even 



APPENDIX. 275 

if tlioy know the whole service by heart ; to make deep obeis- 
ances, and to stand upright. 

5. Those, who are allowed the privilege of saying anything 
in the choir must strain every nerve to do it well, remember- 
ing that they are doing the work of angels, and that it is a 
great privilege to be thus employed. They must know the 
solo parts perfectly ; if they make a mistake they are pun- 
ished for it, and have to say over what they missed in the 
refectory, sometimes for many days together, in order to cure 
them of timidity, if that happened to be the cause of their 
failure. 

G. A sister must always remain with those who do not at- 
tend church, to watch them even if there are only two. 

7. Whenever they go among the sisterhood, they are to 
walk in file as in a procession, no matter how few in number, 
and care must be taken not to place those together who would 
be likely to speak. They never go anywhere without an at- 
tendant. 

8. They are not usually suffered to go about the convent 
alone, still less in twos or threes ; but if it chance to be ab- 
solutely necessary to send thither on an errand, one of the 
most discreet and least prying is selected, but this rarely 
happens. 

OF THE HOLY MASS. 

After Tierce, all go to mass, except the very small children, 
or those who are still giddy and foolish. A sister remains to 
watch these, and causes them to listen to mass with the 
same reverence as at church. 

They are early accustomed to hear mass on their knees ; 
it is found that the posture is less painful when practised in 
youth. 

2. It is thought far better when the children are very young 
or giddy, to keep them in a room, when it is not positively 
necessary for them to attend church, rather than to let them 
acquire the bad habit of talking or jesting when there. 



276 APPENDIX. 

3. At the beginning of the Sub tuum pi'cesidium, which is 
an anthem chanted to the Holy Virgin immediately before- 
mass, they all kneel down in pairs within the choir, baring 
their ungloved hands folded over the scapulary. They ought 
to maintain great reverence of demeanor, and to lift up their 
hearts to God. To this end we try to instruct them in all 
the ceremonies and observances of the holy mass, using the 
Explanations of M. de St. Cyran on that subject and teaching 
them to seek God's aid in every prayer they offer, because 
n<> prayer can be acceptable to Him, unless inspired by the 
Holy Spirit that groans and pleads within us. 

4. I cannot help saying that it is impossible to be too 
particular in teaching children to reverence the sanctuary, 
especially during divine service, nor in punishing severely 
the faults they commit there, even forbidding them to attenu 
church at all, except on high festival days, for as long a space 
of time as seems necessary for their good, though they be the 
eldest of all. For the older they are, the wiser they ought to 
be. 

OF WRITING. 

On leaving mass, they all write in the same place, after 
offering a short prayer that God would aid them to perform 
that duty aright For we try to impress their minds gently 
with a holy habit of never commencing or closing an action 
of any importance without prayer. They offer such prayers 
a:> they choose, and as God inspires. The smallest are taught 
to say an Ave Maria when they begin or end any duty. 

2. Silence during the writing lesson is strictly enforced. 
They are not allowed to show each other their papers, nor to 
write according to their fancy. They simply write after their 
copy, or transcribe something if they are further advanced 
and allowed so to do. 

3. They may not write to each other letters, notes, or sen- 
tences, without permission from their governess, and if this is 
granted, they must hand it to her, that she may give it to the 



APPENDIX. 

person for whom it was meant. The writing-lesson lasts three 
quarters of an hour. 

4. The remaining time before Sexte is spent in learning to 
sing by note, with silence and deep reverence. 

OF PRAYER BEFORE DINNER. 

1. When Sexte is rung one of them, to wit, the semainiere 
(monitress), kneels down in the middle of the room, in order 
to recall their thoughts to God, and enable them in heart to 
participate in the service then going on in the choir. 

2. Although the little sisters are required to be silent 
through the whole day, except at conference time, yet there 
are two special seasons when it is requisite to observe a more 
rigid stillness — the first at morning and evening, of which I 
have already spoken, and the second during the service and 
masses which are said in the convent when they are not 
present. They must put things in order, and provide for their 
wants, so that they need not apply to their governess for di- 
rections about their work, nor, if they can avoid it, speak at 
all, that thus they may themselves commune with God, and 
allow their mistresses time to recite the prayers. At other 
times they can prefer their requests with more freedom. 

3. If one of their exercises, in singing or repeating the cate- 
chism, occurs during a time of divine service, it is not broken 
off, but we desire them to carry it on more quietly than usual, 
and to say the little prayer at the beginning of each service 
that is said in the choir, though it may interrupt the lesson. 
This makes them remember to turn their thoughts to God. 

4. At eleven they all examine themselves, after repeating 
the Confiteor as far as mea culpa. 

5. Sometimes, during the evening and morning self-exam- 
ination, we remind them of some fault, which they may not 
have noticed, but which was committed in public, in order 
gently to accustom them to a thorough self-examination. 

6. When this examination is over, they all repeat th<> *-**■ 



APPENDIX. 

of the Confiteor aloud, and then the semainiere asks God to 
pardon the sins already committed, and to give them grace 
to employ the remainder of the day better. 

7. At the close of the examination, some repeat their Sexte 
in private , this is allowed to the elder ones, who seem pious 
enough to recite it properly. They are permitted to say from 
Laudes to Complies. 

OF THE REFECTORY. 

The dinner-hell rings immediately after Sexte, and they 
proceeed to the dining-room as modestly as to church. On 
reaching it, they curtsey in pairs, and do the same in passing 
before any of the sisters. They stand in their places meekly 
until grace is said, which they repeat with the sisters, mod- 
estly, their sleeves falling over their hands. 

2. After grace they sit down, not according to rank, for it 
is judged best to mix those who have most discretion among 
the others, so that there may be no talking. 

3. "We are careful not to encourage them in any daintiness, 
but exhort them to eat whatever is given them, beginning by 
the things they like least, in a penitent spirit, and taking suf- 
ficient food to keep them from faiutness. For this reason we 
watch what they eat. 

4. They must keep their eyes always down, not looking on 
either hand, but quietly listening to what is read. They then 
say grace with the sisters, and go out in the same order as 
they came in. 

OF RECREATION. 

1. On leaving the dining-hall, they have a recess. The 
little ones are kept apart from the elder ones, so that the lat- 
ter may converse more quietly and discreetly, which they 
cannot do when small children are present, whose age per- 
mits them to amuse themselves with games that would only 
weary the others. 



APPENDIX. 279 

2. If the recess is held in a room, the elder ones gather in 
a circle round the mistress, and talk modestly and sociably, 
according to their ability. 

3. They are not required to talk seriously nor of holy 
things all the time, though profitable discourse may be dis- 
creetly thrown in, and carried on if they appear to like it. 

4. They may be allowed to play at innoceni games, Buch 
as battledore and shutlecock, or others of a like kind. Not 
that our girls avail themselves of this permission, for all of 
them, except the very youngest, work on without losing a 
moment, and are so fond of work, that, as I have already said, 
an entire holiday is Irksome to them. 

5. We do not allow thorn to sit apart, even in the same 
room, still less to form groups of two or three together, or 
to speak in undertones. The governess must hear whatever 
is said, and we strictly observe a rule of making them repeat 
aloud what they may have whispered, no matter in what place, 
unless they humbly entreat to be allowed to say it to the 
mistress alone. And as it might possibly be something im- 
proper to be spoken aloud, they are taught in that case to be 
silent, and on no account to repeat what would be injurious 
or uncharitable ; or they will be punished in the same way 
as if they had concealed something they were hound to tell. 

C. Though young people are rarely discreet, we try to make 
them so at all times and in all places ; more especially at recess, 
when it seems as if they had a right to say what they chose, 
and to amuse themselves. And therefore their governesses 
are careful to converse with them, and to introduce rational 
discourse by way of improving their minds. 

7. They are never allowed to repeat what may be said to 
them in private or at the confessional, no matter how edify- 
ing it may be, because those who have never had anything 
special said to them, might feel jealous. 

8. They must not speak of the singing of the sisterhood, 
remarking that one sister sings better than another, or no- 



280 APPENDIX. 

ticing mistakes made in the choir. They must not talk of the 
sisters' receiving the sacrament, and we carefully teach them 
not to observe this, nor to consider those who take the sacra- 
ment often as more holy than those who commune less fre- 
quently. They are told that each obeys the leadings of God's 
spirit, and the commands of the Abbess, and that we must 
neither condemn nor praise the conduct of any in this mat- 
ter, but leave all to God that judgeth. 

9. They must not comment on any occurrence in the 
dining-room, such as the penance of a nun, or of one of their 
own number. 

10. They are also forbidden to speak of the penances im- 
posed on themselves, for fear of making light of such things, 
or of frightening one another. 

11. Nor are they allowed to relate their dreams, be they 
ever so beautiful or holy. 

12. They may not repeat what they have heard in the 
parlor. If it be anything edifying, and fit to be generally 
known, the mistress does not fail to impart it, and thus grati- 
fies their wish of making it public. 

13. They are sometimes told any trivial piece of news, 
such as the profession of a novice, the contents of a note sent 
by some one asking the prayers of the choir, or any religious 
anecdote, in order to remove the wish of gaining such infor- 
mation in an improper way. 

14. They are never reproved during recess, unless it is un- 
avoidable ; nor are any new regulations ever mentioned to 
them then, lest they should feel at liberty to give their opin- 
ion more freely, and thus incur a reprimand, which is always 
to be, as far as possible, avoided. 

15. Not that ally grave fault is passed over if committed 
during play-time ; on the contrary, it would be reproved more 
sternly than at any other hour, lest the offender should give 
free way to her passions, under pretence of amusement. I 



APPENDIX. 281 

merely mean that Blight faults are not noticed, and past of- 
fences are never refi rred to then. 

16. They are exhorted nol to speak all at se, for fear 

se, I'ut i" bear each other, and when one begins to 

speak not to interrupt her, which they are told would be very 
rode. 

17. Uncharitable conversation is specially prohibited, and 
they are taught never to say what might possibly I"- unpleas- 
ant to one of their number, though in itself harmless, because 
it is enough to know that any one present would prefer some 
other topic of discourse. 

18. We try to make them yield precedence to one another, 
from that holy politeness which charity alone produces. 

19. The children are to avoid every kind of personal famil- 
iarity, and never to caress, to kiss, or even touch one another, 
on any pretext whatever. Neither must the elder ones pel the 
little children. If these things are forbidden in play-time, much 
more at other times, when they may not speak hut in presence 
of their governess, except to procure what they need. 

20. The recess closes with a prayer asking for grace to en- 
able them to pass holily the remainder of the day. 

OF INSTRUCTION. 

1. Recess being over, they range themselves in two rows 
along the middle of the room, ready to be taught; then 
kneeling down, they all repeat the Vcni Creator Spiritus, 
and their instructress recites a prayer and a short verse of 
Scripture. 

2. After prayer, all sit down, and those who choose to con- 
fess their faults aloud, can do so, but this is in no wise imper- 
ative. On the contrary, they know it to be a privilege, and 
are accustomed to do it with a very good-will. 

3. They must respectfully listen to every caution, and we 
try to reprove as kindly as possible, that they may be con- 
vinced we do so for their good, not showing any partiality. 



282 APPENDIX. 

4. They are made to understand that no improper feeling, 
such as passion or self-interest, leads us to speak of their faults, 
which does not prevent our reproving them with severity, so 
that they may be truly humbled and ashamed. For if they 
made a practice of confessing faults, in order that others might 
think them very conscientious, it would become a hypocritical 
mockery, which we are beyond all things anxious to avoid. 
And, therefore, we make them do penance for every important 
fault which they confess, but I do not see that this makes them 
less candid. 

5. They never confess such faults before their companions 
on Sundays or festival days. 

6. As soon as this confession is over, which lasts about a 
quarter of an hour, we spend the rest of the hour in teaching 
and hearing them repeat the lesson of the day before. Three 
or four children are made to repeat what was then taught 
them. Sometimes one is questioned, and sometimes another, 
because it would take too long to catechise them all. If the 
confession of faults took up a whole half hour, we continue 
for another quarter, needing that space to hear the repetitions. 

V. On days for which there is a special Gospel, as in Lent, 
Quatre-temps, and on Saturdays for Sundays, all rise and with 
folded hands, reverently listen to both Epistle and Gospel. 

8. After the Gospel is read, we explain it with the utmost 
simplicity. On days for which there is no gospel, we instruct 
them in the catechism, or expatiate on some religious virtue. 
They are also taught the proper mode of confessing, taking 
the communion, examining themselves, and praying to God 
aright. "We do not pass hastily from one topic to another, 
but give them time to understand what has been said. 

9. When the catechism is explained, it takes a long time : 
for we begin with the sign of the cross, and go on to the arti- 
cles of belief, and the commandments of God and the Church, 
leaving the chief mysteries to be explained on those days 
which the Church has set apart for their commemoration. 



APPENDIX. 283 

10. I will now tell you what has been my method for the 
last four years. The first year, I explained the creeds the sign 
of the cross, and the commandments. The second year, I 
tried to make them understand the meaning of the holy mafia 
as it is laid down in the "New Choir," for though they had 
the book, they understood nothing, because they read by rote 
without reflection, or at least the greater part did so, more es- 
pecially those lately come. 

11. I explained, in like manner, the evening and morning 
prayers, self-examination, and other duties of a good Christian. 
Afterwards I spoke of the Christian graces, using the text-book 
of St. John Climacos.* 

12. During the present year, I have taught them the nature 
of repentance out of the Tradition of the Church. My inten- 
tion is now, by God's help, to explain the Catechism by M. de St. 
Cyran, very minutely, and thereby show them their duty to 
God and their neighbor, and how to behave. 

13. Their instruction closes with the prayer Conjirma hoc 
Deus, <&c. The whole exercise occupies about two hours and 
a half. They may work while it goes on, unless they need to 
ask questions about their work ; in that case, they must sit 
still, in order not to distract their own or their companion's 
attention. 



EMPLOYMENT OF THE INTERVAL BETWEEN NONES 
AND VESPERS. 

COLLATION. 

1. From nones to vespers a lesson from the catechism is 
recited, one questioning, the next responding one day, and re- 
versing the order on the morrow. They finish by repeating a 
hymn, either in Latin or French. These repetitions are not 

* This was a work entitled " The Holy Ladder, or Steps on the 
"Way to Heaven." Arnauld d'Andilly translated it into French from 
the Greek. The second edition appeared in 1661. 



284 APPENDIX. 

troublesome, and waste no time, because each child remains 
in her seat, and goes on with her work. 

2. It is necessary to exercise the memory of children often ; 
for this opens their minds, gives them occupation, and keeps 
them out of mischief. 

3. The remainder of the time, from instruction to vespers, 
is passed in working silently. Meanwhile, some of the half- 
grown girls, who do not read well, practice reading, as they 
also do at suitable opportunities through the day. Those who 
read aloud in the work-room ought to read intelligibly, that 
others may profit by what is read. 

4. As to the little ones, we find that they learn to read best 
alone, therefore the elder girl who is appointed to teach them, 
does so at intervals through the day in another room. One 
who intends to be a nun is chosen for this office, and besides, 
we are careful to select no one who is not perfectly discreet, 
well-behaved and gentle, and willing to teach them out of love 
to God. 

5. About half-past three there is a luncheon for the half- 
grown and little girls. The elder ones are readily excused 
from eating it, if they wish it, because they do not so much 
need it, for we dine late and sup early, and those who do not 
eat between meals, usually enjoy better health. Therefore, 
after they are fourteen, we allow them to omit luncheon, ex- 
cept in cases where it seems necessary, and then they must be 
made to eat something. We do not readily excuse the 
younger ones, when they ask it, lest they should do so from 
hypocrisy, or from a wish to act like great girls. 

6. Meanwhile, if the more pious of the elder ones wish to 
pray, we go aside with them for that purpose, and remain 
until their prayers are over. 

7. Those only are allowed to pray at this time who appear, 
as far as we can judge, to desire it as a means of pleasing 
God, and benefiting their own souls. 



APPENDIX. 285 



OF THE VESPER HOUR, AND THE OCCUPATION OF TIME 
I Mil. SUPPER. 

1. At four o'clock the elder ones go to vespers, if they have 
deserved the indulgence. 

2. In the meantime the little girls are catechised, for al- 
though they are present while the others are taught, yet they 
do not understand what is going forward, and can only 1»' 
made to comprehend when each is talked to separately. 

3. From the close of Vespers to supper-time, one of i In- 
great girls reads aloud. If possible, the head-mistress must 
be present. When the bell rings, this reading ceases, and 
they all proceed to the refectory as they do in the morning. 

OF EVENING RECREATION, PRAYERS, AND GOING TO BED. 

1. A recess follows the meal, as in the morning, only that 
in summer they go into the garden in the evening, and in 
winter, in the morning. 

2. The children are kept apart with the same care. "We 
try to have two nuns walk with the great girls, if any of 
these are at all ill-disposed or unruly, so that one nun may 
walk behind and discover whether any fall back under pre- 
tence of weariness, in order to whisper together. 

3. This evening recess lasts till the first stroke of complies, 
except in the extreme heat of summer, when they remain 
longer out of doors for the sake of fresh air. But it must not 
be prolonged beyond half past seven, when evening prayers 
begin. In extreme heat, they may be recited in the garden, 
the children kneeling down in some quiet spot, and repeat- 
ing complies with the same tone of voice as in the morning 
prayers at Prime. They can walk while repeating the psalms, 
provided they stop when it is necessary to perform the cere- 
monies of the service. 

4. When the Aveather is not so warm, they begin prayers 
at the first stroke of complies, so as to be ready for the 



286 APPENDIX. 

Salve, at which they are present in the choir throughout the 
year, except during the three summer months, from the oc- 
tave of the holy sacrament until the end of August, and then 
they are not summoned from a walk which we think beneficial 
at that hour. 

5. On leaving the choir or the garden, they go straight 
up-stairs, undress with silence and dispatch, and in winter or 
summer are all in bed by a quarter past eight, each in her 
separate bed. This rule is without exception. 

6. As soon as they are in bed, each is visited, either in her 
cell or couch, to see if she is properly covered, and sufficiently 
warm in winter. 

*7. After this the lamps are put out, except one which is left 
burning in case of its being needed in the night. 

8. A nun sleeps in every room, or else a great girl Avhom 
we can thoroughly trust. 

9. Such is the order of each day. Not that no changes 
are ever made in the hours of special emplovment, for this is 
done on fast-days and in Lent, when the mornings are longer 
than the afternoons. 

RULES FOR FEAST-DAYS. 

1. On Feast-days the whole day is spent in little exercises 
to improve the time, and prevent ennui or jesting, which 
would be unavoidable if they were not kept busy, since chil- 
dren have not power to consecrate every hour of the day to 
God's service. 

2. They rise and dress at the same hour as on working 
days. 

3. At six o'clock, if the children are nearly dressed, the 
elder ones who wish to attend Prime can do so, provided they 
have permission, which is only granted when their motive ap- 
pears to be a love to God and a wish to sing His praise. It 
is the same with every service through the day. Afterwards 
early mass is said, at which all are present, great and small. 



APPENDIX. 287 

4. After mass, they make the beds and bn-akfast, till eight 
o'clock, when they all assemble to hear the lecture, as on 
working-days. 

5. At halt-past eight nearly all go to Tierce, and all attend 
high mass. 

6. Between high mass and sexte there is about three quar- 
ters of an hour, in which they commit to memory important 
truths, such as familiar theology, the exercise of holj mass, 
the treatise on confirmation. Afterwards they learn all the 
French hymns in their prayer-book, and then the Latin ones 
in the breviary. Those who enter the convent young often 
learn the whole Psalter by heart. They do it readily enough, 
with a little pressing and stimulating from us. 

*7. At sexte they examine their conscience, and then those 
who are allowed attend sexte. 

8. After sexte comes dinner, and then a recess of an hour. 

9. From one to two, the great girls learn arithmetic, the 
younger write copies, and the little ones say their catechism. 

10. From two to half-past, the elder teach arithmetic to 
the younger, and from half-past to three, repeat nones. 

11. Every hour the elder ones repeat their chants by note, 
and one shows the little ones how it is done. Even it' they 
only say the notes, it fills up the time, keeps them from get- 
ting tired, and thus by degrees they learn to sing. 

12. At four o'clock, all attend vespers and the ensuing 
worship. 

13. After vespers the elder ones who greatly wish, and 
have gained permission so to do, remain at prayer until sup- 
per-time. The others are taken back to the room, and spend 
the intervening half-hour -or less as they please, either in 
reading the Imitation of Jesus Christ, or in repeating some- 
thing that they know by heart. 

14. The remainder of the clay is spent as usual. 



288 APPEXDIX. 

SECOND PART OF THE RULES FOR CHILDREN. 

Having thus stated to you the manner in which the chil- 
dren's days are spent, it remains for me to proceed to the 
second thing you require of me, namely, my method of sup- 
plying their spiritual and bodily necessities. Not that I am 
able always to fulfil my own ideas of duty, for which reason 
you are bound to implore of God that he would make me 
what I ought to be, in order to benefit the immortal beings 
committed to the care of one so incapable of serving them. 
There are many things which, for lack of suitable terms, 
cannot be exactly explained, but obedience forces me to sur- 
mount my own repugnance to the task, and I therefore go on 
to state not only what I do, but what I think ought to be 
done for their education. 



In what spirit we ought to attend to children. — Harmony of the mis- 
tresses. — Some general advice on their behavior, especially to small 
children. 

1. I think that really to do children any good, we ought 
never to speak or act for their benefit without first looking to 
God, and asking his holy aid, that we may thus obtain from 
him the power of guiding them in His fear. 

2. We ought to be very kind and tender towards them, 
never neglecting either their internal or external wants, and 
showing them on every occasion, that we grudge nothing to 
serve them. We do this from love, and heartily, because 
they are God's children, and Ave spare no pains to make them 
worthy of that high dignity. 

3. It is very necessary to give ourselves entirely up to them 
without any reserve, not leaving their part of the house, except 
it is unavoidable; always staying in the room where they 
work, unless we are busy in teaching them, visiting them in 
sickness, or providing for their wants. 



APPENDIX. 289 

4. We must not regret the privation of attending divine 
service, except for the sake of the elder girls, for it is so im- 
portant to watch children constantly, that every other duty 
must give way to this, if it be laid upon us, and much more 
our own comfort even in spiritual things. The charity which 
leads us to deny ourselves for their sakes, will not only cover 
many of our own defects, but will stand instead of much that 
we should under other circumstances find conducive to our 
growth in grace. 

5. There must be a sister associated with us, whom we can 
trust, without devolving our own responsibility on her. This 
sister must remain as much as possible in the room. It would 
be very desirable to have two, prompted by the same spirit of 
zeal and love to children, who could usually stay in the room 
together, even when the first mistress was present, because the 
propriety of the children's behavior before her, would give 
them both a right to exact the same respect in her absence. 

6. We ought to let the children see that we are living in 
perfect union, trust and confidence with the sister allotted as 
our assistant. It is best not to countermand any order she 
may have given, even when it is wrong, that the children 
may not perceive any disagreement, but to wait and tell her 
of it in private. For it is important, and almost necessary, if 
we would bring children up well, that the sister selected as 
our aid, should take what is said to her in good part. If this 
is not the case, the superior ought to be told. But if her op- 
position is of a kind that does not hurt the children, but only 
annoys us, it is better to ask God to make us thankful that 
our inclinations are in this manner crossed. 

*7. We must pray often that God would make the children 
feel a deep reverence for the sisters who are with us. We 
ought also to strengthen their authority, especially hers, who 
stands next to ourselves. Therefore it is well to show the 
children, and even to tell them occasionally, that she has great 
charity for them, that she loves them, and it is we who oblige 
18 



290 APPENDIX. 

her to render us an account of all that goes on in the room. 
And it is also well to say to herself, in presence of the chil- 
dren, that she is bound, in duty and charity, to tell us not 
only of their important faults, but even of their lighter ones, 
so that we may endeavor to correct them. 

8. "We place confidence in the sisters who assist us, so far 
as to inform them of the children's dispositions, especially 
those of the little ones, and of the elder girls, if these are 
likely to cause trouble, so that they may keep better watch. 
Yet we are not to be ready to repeat to them what the chil- 
dren say to us in private, unless it seems necessary for the 
good of the latter, lest they might, through some inadver- 
tence, discover that we had done so. I believe it to be very 
important for children to be able to rely on our secrecy, for 
though their communications may be unimportant now, yet 
hereafter, when they are older, more particularly, they may 
have something of importance to confide, which they would 
hesitate to tell, if they knew that we had not been faithful to 
them in little things. 

9. And important as it is that we should have perfect union 
and intelligence with the sisters who assist us, it is still more 
important that these sisters should only act in accordance 
with the rules they find in operation, and should so yield to 
the wishes of the Head-mistress, as to speak with her mouth, 
and see with her eyes, in order that the children may never 
perceive any want of harmony between their teachers. If the 
sisters find any fault in the first mistress's plans, they ought 
to tell her of it, provided they feel sufficient confidence in her, 
and the Abbess gives permission. If God does not inspire 
them with such confidence, they must mention it to the Su- 
perior, lest they should inadvertently betray their lack of it 
before the children. 

10. When two nuus are present in the work-room, and the 
bell for prayers rings, one can repeat those prayers while the 
other keeps an eye upon the children, but she is not to notice 



APPENDIX. 291 

any trivial faults, (ill ber companion has finished, which will 
teach them i" be reverent when other persons are al prayer. 
But when the office is over (and when repeated softly, ii does 
not take long) they are to be punished in proportion to the 

fault, even more severely than they would be at another time. 

11. If the sister is alone with the children, she musl not 
hesitate to keep an eye on them, but had better say nothing 
till her prayer is quite over. We find by experience that this 
course makes them more reverent in their own prayers, and 
much more afraid of interrupting others. We cannot inspire 
children with too great a fear of God, either by word or ex- 
ample. Therefore Ave are very careful always to say our 
prayers at the precise time when they are said in the choir, 
quitting our occupation at the second stroke of the bell, and 
never allowing ourselves to finish what we have begun. But 
if the children are in need of any special Bervice, we musl per- 
form it in preference to our prayers; still it is good both for 
the children and our own conscience, to be sure that our only 
motive is to please God, because example is the mos! effective 
method of teaching. For tho devil helps them to remember 
our slightest failures, and hinders them from remembering the 
little good we do. 

12. For this reason we cannot be too earnest in pray 
humble nor too vigilant in the discharge of our duties to the 
children. Our vow of obedience binds us to do this: It is 
one of the most important occupations in the convent, and we 
cannot be loo fearful of failing to discharge it aright ; though 
we are not to be pusillanimous, but to put our trust in 
God, and to compel Him by our continual crying to grant 
us that aid which, though undeserving, we implore through 
the blood of His Son shed for the innocent beings confided to 
our care. We ought always to consider the little creatures 
as sacred deposits placed by God in our hands, for which we 
must render an account to Him. Therefore it is best to say 
little to the children, and much to God on their behalf. 



292 APPENDIX. 

13. And as we are obliged to be always among them, we 
must so conduct ourselves that they may never see any un- 
evenness of temper in us, and not treat them at times too 
indulgently, and at others too severely. These extremes 
usually meet, for if we suffer ourselves to notice and pet them, 
or to let them follow the bent of their own wills, reproof must 
inevitably follow, and this inequality is harder for children 
to bear than the strictest maintenance of discipline. 

14. "VVe must never be too familiar with them, or put too 
much confidence, even in the great girls, but we are to treat 
them with true charity, providing whatever they require, and 
often anticipating their wants. 

15. .They ought to be treated politely, spoken to with re- 
spect, and always yielded to where it is possible, for this wins 
upon them greatly. It is well sometimes to indulge them in 
things of slight importance, so as to gain their love. 

16. When it is requisite to reprove their follies or awk- 
wardnesses, 'we must never mimic them or push them roughly, 
no matter how naughty they are ; but, on the contrary, speak 
to them gently, and use good arguments to convince them 
they are in the wrong. This will keep them from sulkiness, 
and be likely to do them good. 

17. We must often pray that God would make the chil- 
dren truthful, and also try to keep them free from artifice and 
finesse ; but this requires discretion, lest our warnings against 
deceit should make them artful. I think it well not to let it 
appear that we think them deceitful, because sometimes they 
become so by dint of being suspected, and then employ all the 
disingenuous tricks of which they may have been wrongfully 
accused, to screen themselves from deserved punishment. 

18. We ought therefore to keep unremitting watch over 
the children, never leaving them alone for a moment, sick or 
well, but it is best not to let them perceive this, lest they 
should cherish a spirit of distrust, and be continually on their 
guard against us ; for they would thus get a habit of doing 



APPENDIX. 293 

wrong in secret, especially the little ones. I believe that we 
ought to maintain guard in a spirit of kindness and even 
trust, so that the children may feel that we love them, and 
find pleasure in going everywhere with them. They thus 
learn to love rather than to dread our presence. 

19. As to the very little children, they more than all the 
others require to be fed like little doves. It is best to say 
but little when they have done something so wrong as to re- 
quire punishment ; or, indeed, if we are sure of their guilt, it 
is quite as well to chastise them without saying why, till it is 
done. Then we can ask if they do not know the reason, 
which they generally do. Correction administered in this 
summary manner hinders their telling any falsehoods by way 
of excuse for their faults, and I find that they are thus more 
easily cured of them, because they are always afraid of a sur- 
prise. 

20. As to their trivial defects, I think it best seldom to no- 
tice these, because they otherwise gradually get accustomed to 
be found fault with. When the same transgression has been 
repeated three or four times, they may be suddenly punished 
for the whole at once ; and the effect is better than continual 
scolding. * 

21. When there are children thoroughly obstinate and re- 
bellious, it is well to force them to repeat the same slight pen- 
ances three or four times. They become completely daunted 
on finding that we do not get weary of punishing them. But 
to correct a fault one day, and pass over or excuse it the next, 
makes no impression on the mind, and we are obliged ulti- 
mately to use stronger remedies than would have been neces- 
sary, had we been more consistent. 

22. Lying is a common fault with small children. We 
must therefore do all we can to prevent their forming so bad 
a habit, and try to prevent it by gently urging them to own 
when they have done wrong, and if they make confession of 
their own accord, by forgiving them or lessening the punishment. 



294 ArrEXDix. 

23. Even when children are very young, say four or five 
years old, they must not be allowed to be idle all day long. 
It is better to divide their time, making them read for a quar- 
ter of an hour, and then play for another, and then work for 
a little while. The change amuses them, and keeps them 
from forming a bad habit to which children are much addicted, 
namely, folding their book and playing with it, or with their 
wort, twisting round, and turning their heads every moment. 
But if we ask them to be diligent for a quarter or half-hour, 
and promise that if they mind their book or their work they 
shall then be allowed to play, they will do it well and willingly 
for the sake of the reward. And when this promise was made 
before they began to work, and they play meanwhile, it is best 
to say nothing, but as soon as the time is up, and they ex- 
pect to go and play, we can make them sit down to work 
again, and tell them that we have no desire to be always 
talking, and since they have only amused themselves, they 
must now begin to work. This astonishes them, and makes 
them on their guard another time. 



II. 

Our aim in General Conversation, or on Special Occasions of 
Exhortation and Warning. 

1. We make them understand that perfection does not lie 
in doing many extraordinary things, but in performing daily 
duties well, that is, willingly, and from a love to God, with a 
great desire of pleasing Him and of always doing His will 
with delight. 

2. We teach them to value any little opportunities of en- 
during vexations calmly and out of love to God; such as a 
slight from their companions, an unmerited accusation, the 
crossing of their inclinations and wishes, or the yielding of 
their own will in submission to that of their governess or of 
some other person. They are told to consider these every-day 



AIT!. 



295 



trials as the gifts of God and tokens of Lis special love and 
o^e which thus furnish them with daily opportunities of growth 

in grace. . , . 

ii. They should often be told of the pleasure and satisfaction 

fch ere is in thoroughly consecrating oneself to God, and serv- 
ing Eiminsimplicitj and truth; without any reserves, thai no 
8 ervice prompted by love is painful, that diligence in ol 
the movements of the Holy Spirit, always obtains fresh sup- 
plies of -race; that the same action may win heaven in some 
cases, and only deserve punishment in others, according I 
state of our hearts and the purity or impurity of our motives. 

It is well to explain this by comparison, showing, for in 
that to do right, for the love of i '«& to please 

ffim and to fulfil His holy will, ■ wll . ll "> 

on the contrary, the very same deed, if done oul of hypocrisy, 
vanity, or a wish to be highly esteemed by our fellows, only 
deserves punishment, since ii is not dune to God, and we have 
no right to expect that He will reward instead of chastising 
our hypocrisy. 

4. Children should be frequently exhorted to examine them- 
selves, their dispositions, vices and passions, and, as it were, to 
dig up the hidden roots of their faults. It is well, too, that 
they should know whether they naturally incline, so that they 
may lop off whatever is displeasing to God, and engraft holi- 
ness in its stead. For instance, if of an affectionate disposi- 
tion, we may tell them it is their duty to change the love of 
self and friends into the love of God, and so forth. 

5. We may sometimes show them that one of the besetting 
sins of young people is stubbornness, and that this sin, to 
which they are naturally so prone, will be their ruin, by hin- 
dering them from attending to the warnings they receive, for 
it only belongs to persons of a proud spirit. They must, 
therefore, learn to love stern treatment and to show by then- 
meek reception of advice, that they desire the destruction of 
everything in their natures that is displeasing to God. 



296 APPENDIX. 

6. We exhort them not to be afraid of doing right, for those 
who have formerly been disobedient are sometimes ashamed 
of doing light before persons who witnessed their naughtiness. 
These must be taught to ask God to strengthen them, so that 
theymay willingly do right, and though at the commencement 
they may often relapse into sin, yet they are to rise again all 
the oftener and the more valiantly ? These instructions should 
be genera], and given at a time when all are behaving well, in 
order that those who are sufficiently advanced may apply them 
in time of need. 

7. We tell them that all the difficulty of doing right arises 
from the fact, that when they have a vice to overcome or a 
virtue to acquire, they look to themselves and consult temper, 
inclination, self-love, their own weakness, and the trouble of 
controlling self, whereas, instead of weakening their powers by 
these human considerations, they ought to look to God, be- 
cause their weakness may be made strength in Him ; and they 
distrust His goodness, when they do not hope to be delivered 
by the power of His grace ; that they would have a right to 
be discouraged, if they were told to overcome their own in- 
firmities and sins without His aid, but since God has himself 
promised to remove the obstacles out of their way, they have 
only to pray, to hope and to rejoice in Him from whom their 
help cometh. 

8. They must be led to thankfulness for the help we give 
them in overcoming the weakness of their corrupt nature, by 
not yielding to it, but by inducing them willingly to endure 
little mortifications and public reproofs, which by degrees 
make them less sensitive, and less afraid to own their faults in 
public, and thus accustom them to penitence and humility. 

9. We try to impress on their minds, that a mere wish to 
do riglit is nothing in the sight of God, unless it be carried 
into practice at every opportunity, and that when we come to 
die, a life spent in good intentions will be of no avail unless 
we have striven to execute them, since far from being rewarded 



APPENDIX. 297 

for those intentions, we shall be punished for leaving them 
undone. 

10. We are not to prejudice their minds in favor of a con- 
ventual life, nor to let them know what w*e believe in regard 
to the small number of persons who obtain salvation while 
living in the world. It is enough to show them the difficulty 
of salvation, their obligations as Christians, ftfld what were 
the vows made for them in baptism. They must also be ex- 
horted on the things they are to avoid, if they re-enter the 
world. It is likewise well to speak occasionally of our own 
personal feelings in regard to a worldly life, and not to conceal 
from them our joy, contentment and repose. 

11. If they of their own accord begin a conversation upon 
the subject of religion, we can improve the opportunity by 
speaking of the happiness enjoyed by a good nun who truly 
lives up to her profession, of the perpetual comfort she finds 
in meditating upon the means afforded her of loving God, and 
of becoming eternally happy through obedience and humility, 
which are the only roads to Heaven for all Christians, but 
more especially for nuns, making them understand that a re- 
ligious life is not burdensome, but one of the greatest comforts 
to persons who wish to keep their baptismal vows, because 
God does not grant the privilege of entire consecration to 
Himself to all persons, nor even to all who are desirous of it, 
and therefore we ought humbly to entreat Him to bestow on 
us this excellent gift, and prepare ourselves by holy behavior 
to receive it. 

12. It is well to tell them occasionally that our love to God 
makes us love them, and that the severe reproofs we some- 
times administer to them, are occasioned by a tenderness which 
makes their faults visible and painful to us, through its very 
warmth. At the same time we can assure them, that what- 
ever we do for them is prompted by love and by a wish to 
make them well-pleasing to God, that we feel kindly towards 
them, even while punishing their faults, for it does violence to 

13* 



298 



APPEXDIX. 



ourselves to correct them, and we would far rather treat them 
gently than severely. 

III. 
How children should be talked to in private. 

1. It is easier to guide children aright if we adopt the cus- 
tom of talking to them alone. In these private interviews, we 
can soften their troubles, incline their minds to subdue their 
own faults, and show them the radical origin of their follies 
and sins. And I may say there is great reason to hope for 
good, when God inspires the children with confidence in their 
governess, for I never yet saw one that had it who did not 
improve. 

2. In these interviews, we must be very serious, treating 
them kindly, but not at all familiarly. If we perceive that a 
child finds amusement in the conversation, she must be treated 
with less gentleness than the others. Much discretion is 
needed in the interview as well as in the time of its taking 
place. Once a fortnight I should think often enough, except 
in special cases, for which no rules can be given. 

3. We must guard against being deceived, and it is well to 
let the children know that we understand all their tricks, for 
then they are more likely to leave them off, and to acquire 
insensibly that frankness and simplicity of character without 
which it is vain to hope they will improve. 

4. It is also very necessary not to be taken by surprise, 
and this can only be avoided by the help of God. Therefore 
we ought not to talk with them until we have prayed to Him, 
and thought over in His presence what they are likely to say, 
and what it is His will that we should answer. We must im- 
plore with tears and sighs that His divine majesty may illumine 
our darkness, and that the light of His grace may discover 
to us what the children seek to hide. And if tiny say any- 
thing to which we are not prepared to give a reply, we can 



APPENDIX. 



299 



,,, thai we will take time to ask wisdom of God, and 
they, on their parts, may pray that God would incline them 
to receive all that we say for their good into hearts entirely 
free from all human bias. We must also use this delay 
whenever wc End them displeased al what we may already 
have said, or taking some of our warnings amiss. We 
then say that we perceive they are not disposed to listen, or 
that perhaps we may be mistaken, and thai if we pray to God 
in humility, Ho will doubtless have pity upon us both. This 
alight condescension is not to be universal, bnt it is often of 
great use to the elder girls and to those who are intelligent. 
Therefore I repeal again, for it cannol ten said, that 

itia better to pray than to exhort; and 1 feel thai our hearta 
anc l mi, | be continually lifted up to Eeaven, and 

asking Cod to put words into our mouths that we may speak 
aright. 

5. Continual vigilance is requisite in order to discover 
what are their tempers and dispositions, and to find out for 
ourselves that wliich they may not have courage to o 
It is well to be beforehand with them, when we perceive that 
they are ashamed to own their misconduct, and to induce 
them to speak more freely by concealing from them at first 
many truths that would be too pungent for their imperfect 
condition. 

G. By degrees, if Cod open their hearts to speak with sin- 
cerity, we can talk to them more sternly, and show them that 
they are bound to do penance, in case they sefcm to require 
it. We must also convince them how narrow is the path that 
leads to Heaven, and that only the courageous and violent 
take it by force. 

1. If they ask to perform many special acts of devotion, 
permission must only be granted for very few, or none at all ; 
and they must be told that such actions only please God when 
they spring from a heart truly touched by love to Him, and 
by a sincere wish, to please Him and to repent of sin. That 



300 APPENDIX. 

our opinion of them will not be formed from these actions, but 
from their faithful observance of our minutest regulations, from 
the aid they render to their sisters, and the careful correction 
of their own faults. That these are the things which make us 
think the}- wish to serve God, and not a number of unusual 
acts of devotion, therefore they must not take it ill that we do 
not allow the latter, since our aim is to do them good, and not 
to encourage them in self-deception. 

8. We can, however, at times, grant the desired permission, 
without appearing to take any special notice of what is going 
forward, though in reality we keep a closer watch than usual 
over every moment. This method of conduct will soon dis- 
cover whether or not they are acting hypocritically, for in 
that case they will stop on finding that they are unobserved, 
and their piety will gradually diminish. We ought also for 
the same reason to be very rigid in requiring the fulfilment 
of the engagements they make, reserving all comment until 
some future time when they seem better disposed, and then 
showing them the sin and peril of seeking 1*> perform extra- 
ordinary deeds of devotion in their own carnal strength. 

9. If there are any disobedient children whom the Abbess 
thinks it right to retain, we ought, in their better moments, 
to beg them to be willing that we should try to correct their 
faults, showing them, as gently and kindly as we can, that 
they are bound to live as Christians. And if they do not 
mend, we must make them understand that we will not put 
up with their misdeeds, and that, though our endeavors seem 
fruitless, we shall not cease to warn and to punish them, in 
order to clear our own consciences, to prevent them from being 
.confirmed in their evil ways, and to do away the effects of 
their bad behavior on their companions. It is well to show 
them that we are bound in conscience to act thus. 



APPENDIX. 301 

IV. 

Of General and Special Penances that may be imposed. 

1. The)' must be made to ask forgiveness of any of the 
nuns, or their companions, to whom they may have spoken 
ungraciously, or given cause of dissatisfaction, or set a bad 
example. 

2. This pardon may be asked in various ways, according to 
the degree of offence, either in private or in public, in the 
refectory or the school-room. They may also be directed to 
kiss the foot of the injured party. We must take special 
care, if only two or three or four persons witnessed the offence, 
to have the reparation made privately, unless the fault was 
very trivial, because it is dangerous to inflict punishment in 
the presence of those ignorant of its necessity. I say the same 
of certain grave faults, even when committed by a number. 
It is better to wait and administer a separate reproof to each 
or to all of the guilty ones together, than to harm the weak. 

3. We can make them wear a gray cloak, or go to dinner 
without veil or scapulary, or stand without them at the church- 
door. 

4. We may forbid their attending church for one day, or 
even several days, according to the offence, or make them 
stand at the door or in a separate place from the others, tak- 
ing care, however, that the privation is not a matter of indif- 
ference. 

3. The little and half-grown girls may be made to wear a 
placard with the name of their offence written in large char- 
acters, a word or two being sufficient, as idle, careless, untruth- 
ful, &c. Or they may be made to wear a red tongue. 

6. Making them ask the prayers of their sisters in the re- 
fectory, and mention the sin they have committed, or the duty 
in which they have failed. 

V. The elder ones must be restrained, if possible, by the love 
of God and the fear of his judgments, and occasionally we can 



302 APPENDIX. 

impose on them the same punishments as on the younger, 
such as going -without a veil, or ashing the prayers of the 
sisterhood in the dining-room, but Ave must judge whether a 
penance of the kind would be likely to do good or only to 
irritate. We are therefore bound to pray much that lie 
would enlighten and guide us in all things for His own glory, 
and the salvation of those He has committed to our care. 



Of Confession. 

1. We often tell the children, both in public and private, 
how extremely important it is for them to make their confess- 
ions truthfully and without disguise, because children are so 
apt to conceal their faults or to cloak them, and thereby we 
are hindered from ascertaining the real state of their minds. 

2. They must therefore be exhorted to ask of God a lowly 
and contrite heart, in order that they may acknowledge their 
offences meekly, and rejoice in being humbled and punished 
as they deserve. 

3. Telling them frequently that it is their duty to confess 
their most shameful transgressions, with every aggravation, in 
spite of their own repugnance. It is well often to describe to 
them the horrible condition of a dying soul, when it finds it- 
self forever banished from God, and left to everlasting con- 
tempt, because it chose to avoid a momentary and slight 
mortification in this world. That the whole world will then 
witness the confusion of unpardoned sinners, while the shame 
experienced in the confessional is confined to the knowledge 
of one person, is kept secret, and lasts but a little while. 

4. -When they appear to have gained a great degree of 
strength and courage, we can advise them to spare no pains 
in order to recover the friendship of God, if they have lost 
it; and thus gently lead them to perform both inward and 
outward penance, more especially the former. They can be 



APPENDIX. 303 

told with advantage, that an improvement in behavior gives 
the best evidence of a good confession, that it is a great sin to 
be always confessing and falling anew into the same snares, 
for it shows that they do not confess in a right spirit, nor 
truly regret thai they have offended God. 

5. Wh*» we find any ul' the children doing wrong contin- 
ually, if they have the chance, we ought to tell them that in 
God's sight they are more guilty than they suppose, for He 
imputes to them all the evil designs they form in heart, or 
communicate to their companions, though they may not he 
able to execute them. They must be told that it is their duty 
to confess all these things, and to make hare the windings of 
their hearts, so that nothing may be kept hack from him who 
fills the place of Jesus Christ. That men may easily be de- 
ceived, but they cannot deceive God, and that the blood of 
Jesus Christ only cleanses those who sincerely and faithfully 
confess their sins. They thus are made to comprehend that 
it is only themselves whom they are deceiving. 

G. It is good for them not to be too familiar with the dis- 
tinctions between venial and mortal sins, lest they should lose 
their horror of sin, and yield more readily to temptation. 
They should be told that nothing is unimportant to those who 
love God, but that all sin is an evil, and we are to avoid every- 
thing, without exception, that we think might displease Ilim who 
did not spare the blood of His son to wash away our trespasses. 
1. The younger ones had better not be sent early or often 
to confession. We may wait till they are old enough to wish 
to correct their little faults, because it is bad for them to con- 
fess unless they amend, and at any rate they ought not to go 
until they have perseveringly tried to improve. 

S. When very young, we can by degrees accustom them to 
own their faults, teach them how to accuse themselves, with- 
out telling tales of their sisters, and help them to recollect the 
chief faults they have forgotten, that they may thus learn to 
confess aright. 



304 APPENDIX. 

9. We must observe whether confession has been of service 
to the children, before allowing them to go thither again ; and 
if they have been very naughty, we must advise them to do 
penance beforehand, that is, if they confide in us, proposing 
a reparation united to the degree and nature of offence. As 
for instance, if they have been unkind to a companion, let 
them do her service, and fulfil every charitable office towards 
her more earnestly and kindly, let them ask pardon of the 
offended party, and of all who were present when the offence 
was given, and repeat prayers for her benefit. We must not 
suffer them to go again to the confessional, until their hearts 
be truly contrite and full of sorrow for having displeased God. 
In this way, we can guard against a mere confession by rote, 
which is to be dreaded for all persons, but especially for 
children. 

10. We teach them, that it is not enough to own five or 
six faults, and no more; but that they must acknowledge 
their temper and behavior ever since the last confession, be- 
cause a confession of separate offences does not show the state 
of the heart. Therefore, if pride is their besetting sin, they 
ought to say whether they have yielded to it more or less 
since the last confession, and how often, particularizing the 
day and hour, <fec. 

11. It is best that they should feel no delicacy about naming 
the person with whom they may have done wrong, because 
they all have the same confessor, and he needs thoroughly to 
know each child's behavior and disposition, in order to judge 
of the degree of its guilt. Without this knowledge he cannot 
serve them aright. 

12. We are here presupposing that which is indispensable, 
namely, that the mistress should make the confessor completely 
acquainted with all that concerns the children, before they at- 
tend confession, so that he may judge of the sincerity of their 
self-accusations. The confessor and the mistress ought, if these 
measures are to succeed, to be thoroughly agreed. The mis- 






APPENDIX. 305 

tress not allowing anything of importance, such as the holy 
communion, prayers, or penances, to take place without con- 
sulting the confessor, and the confessor, in his turn, informing 
her of what is requisite for the children's good, so that she 
may neither do nor say aught that he would disapprove. The 
children ought never to perceive any difference in the direc- 
tions given them by the confessor and mistress, 

13. If one of the children objects to the confessor selected 
for her, she must not speak of this to her companions, but 
she may represent her repugnance to her governess, who will 
set matters right by permission of the Abbess, provided the 
objection be reasonable, and not a mere caprice. 

14. We do not here speak of the tempers requisite for con- 
fession, nor for the holy communion and other exercises, because 
our present design is only to notice some things of special im- 
portance in the government of children. 

VI. 

Of the Holy Communion. 

1. We ought often to pray that God would inspire the 
children with a dread of partaking the communion unworthily 
and uselessly, imploring Him to bestow on them His fear, 
without which all our exhortations must be vain. We try also 
to impress upon them the feeling, that one communion alone 
ought to work some new change in them, perceptible to oth- 
ers ; because those who feed on the body of the Son of God 
should be known by their words and actions, as differing from 
others, and ought to set a watch over the tongue that has had 
the privilege of tasting the bread of Heaven. We must also 
teach them, that after so great a favor, they ought to lead a 
new life, very different from their former life, and that this 
solid nourishment ought to make them resolute in self-denial, 
and in the practice of every virtue. 

2. The period of communion is to be regulated by their 



306 APPENDIX. 

conduct. Those who are in bondage to some favorite sin, and 
do not like to be reproved for it, must rarely receive permiss- 
ion to commune. We must take care that they do not re- 
ceive the sacrament carelessly, or merely because others do it. 
Some even may wish to receive it from pride, or the desire of 
being praised, or considered as great girls. Children are ca- 
pable of all these defects and of many others besides, unless 
we are very careful. It is well to startle them by our strong 
terms of expressing the peril of taking the communion with- 
out we really love and fear God, because it is a matter of life 
or death, and cannot be too much reverenced. These things 
should be spoken of generally, and special application can be 
afterwards made to those who need it. 

3. If there should be any among them too timid or scru- 
pulous, which is seldom the case with children, she must be 
comforted and strengthened in private as she most needs. 

4. If one girl should appear very pious and careful in cor- 
recting her faults, it will not do to let her commune more fre- 
quently than those who behave better in the school-room, but 
make no special pretensions to piety. For this apparent good- 
ness may be only pretence, and it is therefore better not to 
notice it, but to treat all alike. They must never be allowed 
to praise one another for any reason, and particularly not for 
communing often. It is well not to praise them in presence 
of others, even in the hope of doing them good, or exciting a 
holy emulation, except in the case of children two or three 
years old, for if they find out that we notice their piety, some 
will be likely to behave well for the sake of being praised and 
esteemed, and will Avish to receive the communion more fre- 
quently for the same reason. 

5. We must beware of those children who only amend their 
conduct on the approach of sacramental seasons, and after- 
wards return to their old follies and misdeeds. These must 
be made to feel that such occasional reformations are not 
enough, and that we shall not allow them to go to commun- 



APPENDIX. 807 

ion until they have behaved properly for a very long tin: 
striven to regulate their actions by God's law. 

G. We must also observe the spirit in which they perform 
penance, for there are some children very ready to repair their 
faults, who object to nothing of the kind, yet it all arisi 
pride and fear of punishment, and if we watch them closely 
and continually, we find them insincere. We must rarely 
permit such children to go to communion, for they do not de- 
serve so great a favor. 

7. When it is thought proper to debar them from it, we must 
be careful not to make the privation a matter of indifference, 
but, on the contrary, to remind them that they have sustained 
a great loss, and to show them that they ought to give God 
no rest until He restore to Ehem His lost favor, and grant them 
the necessary qualifications for partaking of theHoly Sacrament. 

8. Very young, giddy, or thoughtless children ought not to 
be communicants, nor those who are liable to any grave fault. 
We must wait until God has in some degree wrought a change 
in them, and allow a considerable space of time, say a year 
or six months at the least, to see if their actions are consistent. 
I have never regretted keeping children back, for by so doing 
the well-disposed advance in virtue, and others show their true 
character. The first communion cannot be too carefully pre- 
pared for, because on it often depend the rest. 

9. After the communion, we must exhort them not to forget 
the God who has thus given himself to them, but to render 
Him continual thanks, and to be much in prayer ; watching 
over themselves, lest they do anything unworthy of his holy 
presence, and being assured that God will dwell in their hearts 
so long as they give Him no cause of displeasure, because He 
never withdraws from us until we have first withdrawn from 
Him by our sins. It is well to watch them on communion- 
days, and to notice whether they feel the presence of God, 
and lift up their souls to Him, and also if their behavior is 
more subdued. 



308 APPENDIX. 

VII. 

Of Prayer. 

1. As prayer, has been mentioned in the foregoing rules, I 
need here only speak of it in general. Yv T e try to inspire the 
children wifrh a wish of turning to God in every need, and es- 
pecially in seasons of weakness or temptation. They are 
taught that a single glance lifted to Him in faith, humility 
and constancy, will do more to sustain them than all the 
strong resolutions which they could form in their own strength, 
and which are useless, unless God writes them on the heart by 
the power of His grace, for we can only effect our own perdi- 
tion, while God is able to save us. 

2. We do not overload their memories with a great num- 
ber of mental or vocal prayers, but seek to implant within the 
heart a sincere desire of God's presence, and a habit of look- 
ing to Him in all places and in every occupation, and of prais- 
ing and adoring Him, as every created and even inanimate 
thing does in its degree. 

3. "We explain to them that all their errors arise from not 
having prayed to God aright, which they cannot do while their 
hearts cling to self, to their own pleasures, or to any creature, 
no matter how lovely or holy. 

4. We must be careful that morning and evening prayers 
be properly offered up, and if the children perform those du- 
ties negligently and lukewarmly, they ought not to go to mass 
for several days. They must be told that we cannot give them 
pious emotions, but that we can and will force them to behave 
rightly and reverendly in God's presence. They must under- 
stand that there are punishments for the frivolous and giddy, 
and these must be inflicted, such as standing apart from the 
rest, and only having permission to repeat one Ave or one 
Pater, with the assurance that they shall not say any more 
prayers until they are more devout. 



APPENDIX. 309 

5. Those to whom permission is given for half-hourly 
prayer, as remarked in the first part of these rules, ought to 
be noticed as delighting in prayer, and to be well instructed 
how to pray. If the indulgence does not make them more 
humble, charitable and silent, it must be taken away; and 
even when they seem to derive benefit from it, we should oc- 
casionally keep them back, in order to see how they feel 
under the privation, and if they are equally willing to pray or 
to let it alone. 

6. We recommend the children to take the Virgin Mary as 
their mother and mediatrix,* in their various troubles and 
wants. They are taught that she dwelt in the temple from 
early childhood, just as they live in houses dedicated to God, 
in order that they may become good Christians. That their 
present dwelling is dedicated to the Virgin, and called Notre 
Dame de Port Royal ; that she must be theii* model of prayer, 
meekness, silence, modesty, industry, and in short, in every 
action. They are exhorted to keep her solemn festivals, which 

* It may seem almost superfluous to repeat an observation already 
made, on the strange mixture of truth and error, which could lead a 
mind penetrated as Jaqueline Pascal'9 was, with the conviction that 
they who worship God must do it in spirit and in truth, to seek for 
herself or teach others to seek the mediation of auy created being, 
between the soul of a sincere penitent and his God. With regard to 
the Rosary, it is not improbable, that were the fact of its origin gen- 
erally known, the very name would be as hateful as that of the In- 
quisition, since both originated from the same quarter. The Chaplet 
or Rosary was invented by St. Dominick, during his stay in Langue- 
doc. A chaplet of beads has been used as a memento of prayers to 
be recited by the early Egyptian anchorites, and also by the Bene- 
dictines ; but Dominick invented a new arrangement of the Chaplet, 
and dedicated it to the honor and glory of the Virgin. A complete 
Rosary has 16 large and 150 small beads ; the former being the num- 
ber of paternosters, the latter that of the Ave Marias. Any one who 
knows the fact of its authorship, can hardly avoid associating the 
Rosary with the remembrance of the fearful cruelties practised upon 
the unhappy victims of the Albigensian crusade. — Ta. 



310 APPENDIX. 

are greatly honored in the Cistercian order, to repeat her 
chapelet often, and her litanies every day. 

7. We also recommend devotion to the holy angels, espe- 
cially to their guardian angel, who, we tell them, God be- 
stows on them as a shield from the snares of Satan, the world 
and the flesh, who watches over them continually, knows their 
spiritual, and even bodily wants, and joyfully bears the fra- 
grance of their good deeds heavenwards, while on the con- 
trary, if the happy angels could be sad, they would grieve 
when those whom they are serving do wrong, or fall into 
conduct which is improper and unworthy of a Christian. 

8. We tell them, moreover, that the saints are appointed 
of God to intercede for us with himself, and teach them to 
turn to these saints, beseeching them to obtain from the divine 
goodness, the graces they need. Each day they irnplore the 
protection of St. Joseph, St. Bernard, St. Augustin and St. 
Benedict, the patrons of the house, the saints whose name 
they bear, those who are the patrons of the year and month, 
and those whose festival it is. 

VIII. 

Of Reading. 

1. The books we use for the children's instruction are, the 
Tradition of the Church, the Letters of M. de St. Cyran, the 
Imitation of Jesus Christ, by Thomas a Kempis, St. Louis of 
Grenada, Philothea, or Introduction to a Devout Life, by St. 
Francis de Sales, St. John Climacus, Familiar Theology, Chris- 
tian Principles, in the Prayer-Book, the Letters of a Carthu- 
sian Monk, lately translated, the Meditations of St. Theresa, 
the Lord's })rayer, and other books intended for the improve- 
ment of true believers. 

2. I have indicated what is to be read in the morning at 8 
o'clock, in the daily rules. 

3. In the reading after vespers, other books can be used ; 



APPENDIX. 811 

the Letters of St. Jerome, Christian Almsgiving, certain pas- 
sages of the Way to Perfection, by Si. Theresa, and also of 
the Lives of the Fathers of the Egyptian Desert, and of other 
holy biographies. 

• 4. We ourselves read aloud in general, except after vespers, 
and are always present to explain and enforce what is read. 
We should try to accustom them not to listen merely as a 
means of gaining amusement, but with a desire of self-appli- 
cation, and our efforts at explanation should be directed more 
towards the making them good Christians and correcting their 
faults, than to the rendering them Learned. They must be 
urged to pray that God would enable them to pi»lit by what 
they bear, and also aid us in giving them suitable and useful 
expositions. 

5. When we do not ourselves read, we mark what is to be 
read, and they arc not allowed to alter either the place or the 
book. For we meet with but lew volumes, in which it is not 
necessary to pass over something. 

6. During the evening reading, they are allowed and even 
requested to ask questions on every point which they do not 
understand, with respect and humility, and in our answers we 
try to teach them how to apply what is read for their own 
benefit. If we see that no questions are asked upon subjects 
which they are not likely to comprehend, we can inquire 
whether they understand what is read, and if they have no- 
thing to say, we must reprove them for remaining in igno- 
rance, when it is their duty to obtain instruction. 

V. When the reading is over, the book must be taken away, 
for the only books they are allowed to keep, are the prayer- 
book, Familiar Theology, the Words of our Saviour, the Imi- 
tation of Jesus Christ, and a Psalter in Latin and French. 
The governess takes charge of all other books, and they are 
very willing it should be so, for they acknowledge it does 
them more good, and that the holiest books profit them not 



312 APPENDIX. 

when read from curiosity, which is usually the case if they 
keep them in their own care. 

8. They are never suffered to open a book which does not 
belong to them, nor to borrow books from one another with- 
out permission of their governess, which is rarely given, on 
account of the confusion often occasioned by loans of the kind. 

IX. 

Of illness and bodily wants. 

1. Those children who are ill must be tended very carefully, 
having their#vants supplied very comfortably and at the pre- 
cise time, calling in the aid of a physician, if necessary, and 
punctually obeying all his directions for obtaining relief. 

2. We try, if possible, to be present during the physician's 
visits, and it is well to see him beforehand, for the purpose of 
describing the illness and the patient's behavior in regard to 
taking medicine or nourishment, and of requesting him to say 
but little in the sick-room, for fear of causing alarm or sorrow 
in the child's mind. After the physician has seen his patient, 
we must inquire what he thinks ought to be done. 

3. We accustom them to make no fuss about swallowing 
even very distasteful remedies. We administer these in per- 
son, and comfort them with words of Scripture, leading them 
to offer up their sufferings as a sacrifice to God. 

4. We exhort tbem to find no fault with the doctor's pre- 
scriptions, because during their illness he stands in the place 
of God to them. They therefore ought to obey him, as they 
would obey God, yielding up life, health, and illness to the 
disposal of divine Providence, which ordains that the remedies 
employed shall be efficacious or not, according as our best 
interests require. Consequently, let the event be never so 
painful, we are not to blame the physician or his remedies, 
but to bow in silence and humility before the allotments of 
divine Goodness, and in order that the sick may be better 



APPENDIX. 313 

able to do this, wc must endeavor to procure the assistance of 
persons who are at once good physicians and good Christians. 

5. There must be a room set apart for invalids, into which 
the other children cannot go, unless by necessity or the mis- 
tress's permission. During play-time, one of the more discreet 
girls may be allowed to amuse the sick one, but the sister who 
is acting as nurse must not leave the room, unless in case one 
of the elder girls intending to take the veil, and in whom we 
feel entire confidence, is present, who knows how to help and 
even to nurse children that are not dangerously ill. 

G. Whenever there are many ill, and the services of an- 
other sister are required, she ought to be chosen for her dis- 
cretion and her kindness. Discretion is needful to watch 
their behavior, and to see that they do not lose in sickness the 
good habits so painfully acquired in health, and also to pre- 
vent the indulgence of their fancies, or their repugnance to 
swallow the proper medicine, or their longing for things that 
would be injurious. And kindness is needed in order to soften 
the refusal of what might hurt them, by gentle words and an 
affectionate manner. 

*7. "We pay great attention to those who are ill, even more 
than we do the healthy, both in order to provide for their 
wants and to keep them in good order, and teach them to 
bear suffering in a Christian spirit, for then they are not so 
likely to become disobedient. 

8. Besides this general oversight and attendance, each sick 
one is visited in private, and treated as kindly and cordially 
as possible ; we either listen to what they may wish to say, or 
entreat them to be good, and to bear pain patiently, offering 
it to God in remembrance of, and gratitude for, the sufferings 
of our Lord and Saviour. And though we are to be very 
gentle and patient with them, we must not encourage a deli- 
cacy that might make them hard to please, or cross ; but, on 
the contrary, teach the sufferer to submit to every inconvenience 
from a holy motive. 

14 



314 APPENDIX. 

9. If the illness should be dangerous, we must consult the 
Mother Abbess, and the physicians, about the administration of 
the sacraments, according to the age and capacity of the chil- 
dren, redoubling at the same time our cares and attentions, 
so that having no bodily wants unsupplied, they may be free 
to think of holy things as much as illness, strength and age 
permit ; though we are not to weary them, but, on the con- 
trary, to take especial pains that our visits may not overtax 
their energies. At times, we can endeavor to amuse them by 
our visits, and at others, if they seem inclined to speak of God, 
we can introduce pious discourse. 

10. As soon as the children are recovered, they must resume 
their usual duties, lest they become ungovernable, which is to 
be feared, for very young persons like nothing better than lib- 
erty. But after their return to the work-room, we must be 
careful to give them the food and rest necessary for the perfect 
restoration of their health. 

11. In slight cases of indisposition, they are to have what 
is requisite, but are not to be greatly petted, because there are 
some children who make a pretence of being sick. I have 
had such children to deal with, though it is very long, thank 
God, since anything of the sort has occurred among our own 
pupils. It is best, in these cases, not to appear as though we 
knew they were deceiving, but to pity them, and say that they 
are ill, and must go to bed at once ; to put them in a separate 
room with one sister as nurse, who refuses to speak to them, 
saying that talking will only make them worse, and that they 
need rest ; and to keep them for a day or two on broth and 
eggs. If really ill, the regimen will be of service, and if not, 
they will say that they are better on the morrow ; and in this 
way they will be cured of hypocrisy, without our having given 
them any ground of complaint, which might occur if we were 
to say that they were not actually ill, and they might even be 
tempted to tell falsehoods and feign more suffering than 
before. 



APPENDIX. 315 

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE MERE MARIE ANGELIQUE. 

BT SISTER JAQUEUNE DE 8AIKTE ETTPHEM1E PASCAL. 

Among the writings of Jaqueline Pascal are some reminiscences of 
the Abbess Angelique. They have no date, but were probably written 
down soon after Angelique left Port Royal des Champs. A few of 
these will close the Appeudix, and finish the present volume. Jaque- 
line Pascal's " Thoughts on the Death of Jesus Christ," having been 
written for the especial benefit of a nun in her cell, will be omitted 
altogether, as not being likely to interest the general Protestant 
reader. 

I was once speaking to our Mother Angelique of a person 
whose father had kept a gambling-table, when she said in her 
usual emphatic manner, that wealth so obtained was more un- 
righteously acquired, and ought to be more scrupulously 
restored to the former owners, than if its possessor had been 
a robber on the highwa}'. For this reason , — robbers only in- 
jure the passengers whom they attack, while gamesters are 
the authors of all the innumerable sins of their victims, such 
as blasphemy, knaveries, the ruin of families, with all its en- 
suing disasters, quarrels, murders, and, in fact, an infinity of 
crime. For of all these evils, they are the primary cause, 
and if the person in question does not feel ashamed of his 
parentage, he is just as guilty as his father, and ought to be 
looked upon with the same abhorrence. True, children are 
not to bear the iniquity of their fathers ; that is, provided 
they hate and forsake it, but if for these sins they do not 
humble themselves before God, condemning such practices 
from the heart, and being thoroughly ashamed of them, then 
the guilt of their fathers becomes their own. 

The judgments of God are fearful things, but because men 
do not think of them or dread them sufficiently, they do not 
strive to avoid them. You see, my daughter, there is no way 
of escape except in humbling ourselves deeply before God, on 



316 APPENDIX. 

all accounts, and more especially because of the sins commit- 
ted in our respective families, but instead of this, what vain- 
glory we everywhere behold ! We ought often to think upon 
those things that, lower us in our own estimation, whether in 
nature, in fortune, or in grace ; but instead of this, if any little 
circumstance is calculated to increase our importance, we are 
very adroit in seizing the right moment to make it known, or, 
on the other hand, if, as is often the case, there be something 
disgraceful to hide, we are equally ready to pass it over. Now 
does not all this really spring from our excessive pride ? Not 
that there is any need of disparaging one's family no one is 
called upon to do this, but neither are we to publish what is 
creditable, while we conceal what is the reverse. The best 
way is to be quite silent, but we are not to keep silence merely 
because we are ashamed of the truth, but because we dare not 
speak out of vanity. It seems a great effort to say nothing 
on the subject, but this is really no more than our simple duty. 
At another time, when we were talking of some one whom 
errors in religion had so infatuated, that it was very difficult 
to undeceive her, the Mere Angelique said to me, " It is not 
only difficult, but actually impossible to effect this, unless 
God himself should enlighten her mind, and He will do this 
in His own time and way. We are not to leave any means 
untried, since we do not know whether or not our efforts may 
be ^the appointed instrumentality for bringing His will to 
pass ; but we are not hastily to assume the task of obliging 
others to understand truths for which their souls are not yet 
ripe. This would be like seeking to make the sun rise at 
midnight. All the princes and most puissant kings of earth, 
would be powerless, if they were to strive with united forces 
to compel the sun to rise an hour earlier than his wont; 
neither can any human beings, however endowed with elo- 
quence or persuasive power, cause one of their fellows to ap- 
prehend the truths, not yet revealed to him by God's illumi- 
nating spirit." 



APPENDIX. 317 

Some one, having once said in her presence, that she should 
refuse to take any part in some business that had arisen, in 
which a person greatly afflicted, and at the same time sus- 
pected of glaring faults, implored her to help her out ; our 
mother commented upon this speech, declaring that she 
scarcely knew an individual, except, perhaps, M. Singlin, who 
would not act in the same way, and avoid, if it were possible, 
assuming the care of business that involved risk of any kind. 
It was answered that she ought also to make herself an ex- 
ception, since she had never been known to refuse a call upon 
her attention and aid. " No," said she, " as for me, I am only 
a miserable sinner, and never did one good deed. But on 
such occasions I always recollect, that, supposing any one 
whom we dearly love, for instance, my sister Catherine de St. 
Jean, were to be lost, so that we could not tell if she were 
dead or alive, nor where to find her, and there should come to 
our door a WTetched stranger, asking for us ; how quickly we 
should run to see if by any possibility, it might be our poor 
sister, and with what eager tenderness we should aid her ! 
It makes one weep even to fancy such a scene. Well then, 
if the person in distress be one of God's people, unjustly per- 
secuted, ought we not to feel as much sympathy as if he or 
she belonged to our own family. How do we know that it is 
not one of our sisters sent to us by the Lord Jesus. I mean 
one of His flock, for whom he requires us to feel kindly, and 
to assist as far as we can. Therefore we should never refuse 
to listen to an application and acquaint ourselves with its 
merits. Not that we are to act foolishly, nor to relieve every 
one without discrimination, for if our sister w r ere really lost, 
we should not be likely to mistake the first comer for herself, 
but we should hasten to see if we could recognize her. "Wo 
are, therefore, carefully and affectionately to examine whether 
the persons asking relief are sent to us of God, but not to en- 
gage inconsiderately in such a •work." 

It was then explained to her that the person who had de- 



318 APPENDIX. 

clined to take any share in the business above mentioned, did 
not do so out of unkindness, but because she did not wish to 
incur the responsibility, and did not believe her assistance to 
be really indispensable, because she would not willingly be 
mixed up with the affair, nor encumber herself with super- 
fluous care. Our mother approved of this, saying that the 
motive was a good one, provided she held herself in readiness 
to come forward if her presence should really be requisite. 

One of the nuns having opened on a verse in the Testament 
which greatly alarmed her, our mother said : " When God 
threatens us, he does it in order that we may humble our- 
selves before Him. Even the most wicked, when they do 
this, escape the execution of His menaces, as in the case of 
the Ninevites, whose penitence induced Him to spare their 
city from destruction, and to forgive their sins. This, it is 
true, was only a temporal pardon, but then it was all that 
they desired. God is now threatening you, my daughter, 
therefore be contrite before Him, and pray that He would 
grant you those blessings which are eternal. He will grant 
your prayer." 



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Elegant edition. 40 cents. 

Fanny and her Mamma, 

By the author of " Mamma's Bible Stories." Colored Plates. 50 cents. 

Little Annie's First and Second Books. 

2 Vols. 75 cents. 

Clever Stories for Clever Boys and Girls. 50 cts. 
Mamma's Bible Stories, for Her Little Boys and Girls. 

Colored Plates. Price 50 cents. 

A Sequel to Mamma's Bible Stories. 

Illustrated. Square. 

A Shepherd's Call to the Lambs of his Flock. 

By the Rev. C. W. Bolton. 

The Child's Own Story Book. 

By Mrs. Jerram. Colored Plates. 50 cts. 

Rhymes for the Nursery. 

By Jane Taylor. Colored Plates. 50 cents. 



CARTERS' PUBLICATIONS. 



DiHrnnrsrs ant lutings nf nur Xnri Sisns Christ. 

Illustrated iu a Series of Expositions. By Jonx Brown, D.D., 
author of the " Exposition of First Peter." 3 vols. 8vo. $6 ; 
in half calf, $8. 

" These volumes add fresh lustre to Dr. Brown's well-deserved reputation as a 
Biblical schular and practical theologian. They bear the impress of keen critical 
sagacity, of a calm, comprehensive, and independent judgment, of extensive 
research, of sound exegetical principles, and of the most devout and loving rever- 
ence for Him whose 'sayings' they are intended to illustrate." — Eclectic Review. 

"A noble work." — Free Church Magazine. 

" One of the most valuable expository works in our language." — Baptist Mag. 

VI. 

MIE HD A USE TIE IBS ©IF (DEHIfAo 

BY MRS. BRIDGMAN. 
Illustrated. 16mo. Price 75 cents; gilt, $1 00. 



VII. 

TH1 S3UI12S Qf ¥MfW. 

By JOHN ANGELL JAMES. l6mo. 
VIII. 

floole's Annotations tipn the fjalij prle, 

Wherein the Sacred Text is inserted, and various readings annexed ; 
together with the parallel Scriptures. The more difficult terms 
are explained ; seeming contradictions reconciled ; doubts re- 
solved, and the -whole text opened. 3 vols, imperial 8vo., printed 
on fine linen paper. In cloth, §10; in half calf, $12. 

"A treasure for any one's library, and indispensable for that of the theologian. 
We advise every Presbyterian church to make a presentation of these three 
volumes to their pastor as a New Year's gift." — Presbyterian. 

" We rejoice to see this great and good work published in this country." — Inde 
pendent. 

" The ' Annotations' are deeply spiritual, and having been the fountain-head of 
all English exposition since, they are particularly worthy of the scholar's attention.' 
— Evangelist. 

IX. 

$>%mm ffO G88S8V: & SBsenu 

"With an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. Asa D. Smith, D.D. 16mo. 






X. 

J&tmim nf tjjt K\m nf llnhtrt Siafitime, 

Of Airthrey, and of bis Brother, JAMES ALEXANDER HAL- 
DANE ; comprising Notices of many of the most Eminent Men 
and the most remarkable Religious Movements, from the last 
Century to the present time. By Alexander Haldane, Esq., 
of the Inner Temple, Barrister. 1 vol. 8vo., )?2 ; half calf, $3. 

"This is in all respects an extraordinary production. British biography presents 
nothing to be compared with it. * * * It is a hook Of facts, great and varied ; 
it is a book of principles, most of them sound- and Important ; it is a book of ex- 
amples, shining and impres-ive ; it is U book oflesSOUS, lull Or encouragement and 

of caution ; it is a book which will, in a future age, be considered us deserving a 
chief place in the biography of the first half of the nineteenth century."— British. 

Banner. 



XI. 

A Series of Prayers for every Morning and Evening throughout the 
Year. Adapted to Domestic Worship. By One Hundred and 
Eighty Clergymen of Scotland. 830 pp. 8vo. Cloth, §3 ; half 
calf, $4; Turkey morocco, £5. 

"There is a comprehensiveness, beauty, pious devotional spirit pervading these 
prayers, which will render them peculiarly acceptable." 



XII. 

DAILY COMMENTARY. 

Exposition of Select Portions of Scripture for every Morning and 
Evening throughout the Year ; a Companion to " Family 
"Worship." By One Hundred and Eighty Clergymen of Scotland. 
8vo. Cloth, $3 ; half calf, $4 ; morocco, $5. 

The work entitled " Family Worship ; a Series of Prayers for every Morning and 
Evening throughout the Year, by One Hundred and Eighty Clergymen of Scotland," 
■was published about a year ago. That volume, reprinted from the Glasgow edition, 
formed only a portion of the work issued in Scotland, each prayer in the Scotch 
edition being accompanied by a brief comment on some portion of Scripture. In 
order to render them more available, the Prayers were reprinted separately, and 
now, to complete the work, the Expository and Practical Comments on Scripture 
are embodied in this volume, uniform with " Family Worship." 

This " Daily Commentary," however, is not only a valuable companion to 
"Family Worship," but it is also admirably adapted to the purposes of private 
devotion. It is believed, both on account of its variety and ability, to be unsur- 
passed, if not unequalled by any previous work of daily devotional exercise. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



XIII. 

Ji)e §cof$ JOoHfjies. 

Containing a brief Historical Account of the most eminent Noblemen, 
Gentlemen, Ministers and others, who Testified or Suffered for 
the cause of Reformation in Scotland, from the beginning of the 
Sixteenth Century to the year 1688. By John Howie. "With 
twelve Engravings. 8vo. $1 50. 

"This, although a household book for three fourths of a century among the 
peasantry of Scotland, has never, we believe, been republished before in this 
country. John Howie was a sort of literary Old Mortality, who strove with his 
pen to keep alive the records of that noble army of martyrs, whose blood has 
baptized with its hallowed effusions the glens and crags of "Scotland. Beginning 
with Patrick Hamilton, the Pnitomartyr of the Scottish Reformation, and ending 
with the young and fervent Renwick, on whom the fiery mantle of Cargill fell, he 
tells in his simple and homely way the struggles of Scotland for the faith once de- 
livered to the saints. Such books as these make the fire burn in the heart toward 
the old, blood-baptized church of our fathers."— Watchman and Observer. 



XIV. 

Expounded for those who Search the Scriptures. By E. W. 
Hexgstenberg, of Berlin. Translated by Patrick Fairbairn. 
2 vols. 8vo. §3 50. 






7.i '.} 
HJSJ 



XV. 

of cmunift; 



Or, THE INFANT PILGRIM. By Anne Woodruffe, author of 
" Michael Kemp." 2 vols. 12mo. $1 50. 

" A charming book, full of deep, true, and glowing sentiment, with lively 
glimpses of character, pen-portraits and sketches, which keep the interest ever 
alive, and withal wise instruction is so happily blended that the pleasure of tho 
book is only equalled by its profit." — JV. Y. Observer. 



XVI. 

1 A B L 2 v dob; 

Or, THE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH. 

A Tale for the Times. By Charlotte Auley, author of " Miriam,'' <fec 
12mo. 75 cents. 

"A most interesting story, well sustained from the beginning to the close, and 
containing many buautiful characters, and finely conceived domestic 
Bulletin. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



XVII. 

Til BIBtl COHIAIIOI. 

Designed for the Assistance of Bible Classes, Families, and 
Students of the Scripture. With au Introduction by the Rev. 
Dr. Tyng. 18mo. 40 cents. 

XVIII. 

IPAIBAMIBS ©IP ^IPIEIIH©o 

Translated from the French of Gaussen. 16mo. Price 40 cents. 
XIX. 

fax <Dff; nr ; ftaia nl Australia ©mriinft. 

By the author of " The Peep of Day." 
Illustrated. 16mo. 75 cents; gilt edges, $1 00. 

XX. 

%eift ifoiTie; oi v , Ifee Coqnfrieg of J^ope ^De@clribed. 

By the same author. 75 cents ; gilt edges, §1. 



XXI. 

TiitWz Ditthj Sikh ilUttstnitinttH. 

Morning Series. 4 vols. 12mo. $4 00. 

Vol. I. Antediluvians and Patriarchs. 
II. Moses and the Judges. 

III. Samuel, Saul, and David 

IV. Solomon and the Kings. 

Evening Series. 4 vols. 12mo. §4 00. 
Vol. I. Job and the Poetical Books. 
IL Isaiah and the Prophets. 

III. The Life and Death of Our Lord. 

IV. The Apostles and the Early Church. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



XXII. 

A Series of Lectures delivered at the University of Virginia, by- 
eminent Clergymen of the Presbyterian Church. With thirteen 
Portraits by Ritchie. 8vo. £2 50. 
Among the contributors to this great work are Drs. Alexander, Rice, 

Breckenridge, M'Gill, Ruffuer, Sampson, Green, Rev. T. V. Moore, <tc. 

XXIII. 

HOLIDAY HOUSE. 

A Series of Tales, by Catherine Sinclair, Illustrated. 16mo. 
75 cents; gilt edges, $1. 

XXIV. 

ra wmMd m wwmm govsu § 

Comprising his Life, Letters, and Poems, now first collected by tho 
introduction of Cowper's Private Correspondence. Edited by the; 
Rev. T. S. Grimshaw. With numerous illustrations on steel, and 
a fine portrait by Ritchie. 1 vol., royal 8vo. Cloth, $3 «0 ; 
extra gilt, $4 ; Turkey morocco, §5 00. 

XXV. 

$mn — jgbt&ftt*ss anfc §littfotuss, 

By JOHN KITTO, D.D. $1 00. 



XXVI. 

liHIIH II I FSSS3 IT 

By MRS. DUNCAN With Portrait. §1 50. 
" A very readable book."— Advocate and Guardian. 



XXVII. 
THE MYSTERY SOLVED ; Or, IRELAND'S MISERIES 

THE GRAND CAUSE AND CURE. 

By the Rev. DR. DILL. 16mo. 75 cents. 

"This is a book which will attract much attention." — Commercial Adv. 



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